


Notes for You (Adrinette April 2019)

by LeSwanSong



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette April, Adrinette April 2019, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 05:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 40,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18382016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeSwanSong/pseuds/LeSwanSong
Summary: Reverse Crush AU - Adrien Tries to win Marinettes Heart but her focus is on someone else





	1. Day One: Just Friends

Just friends, that's all they were, no matter how hard Adrien tried to change it they were still just friends. Adrien was used to the attention of girls (and some guys) but had no idea how to attract her’s, his plans never seemed to work, last Valentine's day he tried to corner her to tell her how he felt but Hawkmoth being Hawkmoth continued his tradition of releasing his festive Akuma. Her birthday went the same way, another failed confession and an Akuma.

He could feel her presence behind him, the sweet smell of her perfume and a hint of freshly baked bread snuck through Chloe’s overpowering perfume, the sound of her pencil running across paper, she should be focusing on her school work but instead she was designing it brought a smile to his face, he was planning to tell her again, the first day back and he was planning on starting the year out properly, there was no crazy plan, no wooing her with hundreds of pink roses although he hadn’t attempted it, it was just going to be him and his feelings he just had to get through class first.

Nino’s sharp elbow to his stomach reminded him that he needed to focus on class, he sent his friend an angry glare and picked up his tablet to read through his next set of questions.

“You need to stop daydreaming about her,” Nino whispered when the teacher turned her back, “Ms Mendevel was sending you an angry glare, you’re lucky I decided to save you.”

“Thank you but next time don’t hit me.”

“If you don’t daydream in class there won’t be a next time.”

“I can’t help it, Nino.”

“Then just tell her.”

“I’m working on it,” he whispered back writing down a few answers on the tablet, he really hated Ms Mendevel’s knowledge tests, why did she have to have one at the start of every year.

* * *

 

Adrien stepped out of the school gates to stare at the silver car, he could see his bodyguard sitting in the driver seat waiting for him, he let out a sigh a took a step towards the car before he was stopped by Nino.

“Why don’t you have lunch here?”

“Because Father-“

“Screw what he thinks, you bend over backwards for his approval, you model, you fence, you learn whatever language he wants you to learn, as soon as you’re finished with high school the man is going to send you to one of the many design schools, then business school and you’ll do all that… for him.

I know you say that he loves you and I’m sure in some way he does but he sure doesn’t show it but you need to start doing what you want to do otherwise he will control the rest of your life.”

He gave Nino a small smile and let out a sigh, “You’re right… I shouldn’t always do what he asks me to but-“

“No buts Adrien, you’re making an excuse for a grown man.”

“Fine, I don’t know what he will do if I don’t do what he says, the last time he threatened to take me out of school.”

“If memory serves me, he didn’t agree the first time you went to school, you snuck out, something tells me that if he does you’ll be able to sneak out again.”

“True.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to tell the gorilla to go home.”

“Finally, now I would join you…”

“But?”

“But... my mother needs me to watch over my brother for a little while, however, I’m sure Marinette and Alya would love to have you…”

Adrien’s cheeks grew a subtle shade of red, “yeah?”

“You know where the cafeteria is? just go in there, I’m sure Mari or Alya will see you.”

He shrugged his shoulders, "Okay..."

"Just go bro, you'll thank me later."

* * *

 

Adrien stared at the busy lunch room, his heart was racing out of fear, to the world he was brave when facing something new but really it was only his facade, he was often nervous when trying something new and right now he most definitely was, he was holding the blue plastic tray tightly in his hands.

“Adrien? is that you?”

Oh, how her voice was music to his ears, like a familiar dream or a warm blanket, a blanket he just wanted to be wrapped up in.

“Marinette!” he responded cheerfully.

“What are you doing here?”

“Lunch?” he replied holding up his tray.

“But you have-“

“Lunch at home I know, I need something different.”

"Rebelling now? Seems like Nino's and Alya's Bad influence has finally gotten to you," she replied in a half-joking tone.

"Seems like it has," he looked around at the glass display case that contained the food unsure of where to start.

“Did you want some help?”

“Sure, I really don’t know what to get.”

“Well,” she started, walking over to the glass display case, “The lasagna is good, the mashed potato is usually cold so I wouldn’t eat it, everything else is kinda alright, you’ll just have to try it all, but I’ll help you get The Lasagna out of the tray its a kinda stuck to the sides.

“Thank you, I haven’t had anything that was not apart of my diet plan in a while.”

“Well it was a good day to skip it, this is the first time that they’ve had lasagna.”

She picked up the plastic spatula and stuck it under a piece of lasagna but had trouble getting it off the tray, it seemed to have been overcooked and had burnt itself to the bottom.

"Here, let me help."

He grabbed hold of the tray pushing it down in its place so Marinette could try and get the slice unstuck, with a few sharp stabs the slice came free and Marinette placed it onto his awaiting plate.

"Thanks."

"We're not socks. But I think we'd make a great pair."

“Oh Adrien, you’re such a flirt.”

_‘Damn, she thinks he’s like this with all the girls and not just her.’_

“Only for you Mari.”

“Sure… Now lunch, are you joining Alya and me?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“Oh come on,” she said grading hold of his arm and started pulling him along, he almost dropped his tray at the sudden action but followed.

“Adrien? what are you doing here?” Alya asked in surprise.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Thought I’d have lunch here today.”

Alya raised an eyebrow, “And your father is okay with this?”

“Don’t know, I didn’t ask, I just didn’t want to have lunch at home today.”

His father would be furious about him throwing his diet plan out of the window but if he ate another bite of kale he was going to be sick, he needed something different for a change and lunch at school was just the change he wanted.

“Mari, Nino and I will attend your funeral.”

“That means a lot to me, Thank-you Alya,” he joked back.

He sat down next to Marinette and dug into the overcooked Lasagna, it tasted horrible but he didn't let it show. The girls continued a conversation they had started in class as they ate, he pitched in a few words here and there but their topic didn't really interest him, he was actually having a nice lunch up until the Akuma warning alarm went off.

"Welp, you two will have to excuse me, I have an Akuma to report," Alya said standing up from the table, "don't worry I won't get too close," and with that, she raced out of the lunchroom, her phone held tightly in hand.

"And we both know she won't," Marinette muttered rolling her eyes, "I've got to go, My parents, they-"

"I understand Marinette, My father is the same way."

She gave him a small smile, "Stay Safe?"

"I will as long as you do."

She nodded her head and picked up her purse before she followed Alya and left the lunchroom leaving Adrien alone.

He took one last bite of his lunch before he headed to the nearest bathroom and called for his transformation.


	2. Day Two: Seat Buddies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so I feel like its hard to write this Au with some small parts of the love square so… yeah.

Adrien couldn’t sleep, he tossed and turned in bed but just couldn’t fall into sleeps warm embrace, his mind was too awake, the lights from the Effiel Tower twinkled through his large bedroom window, he tossed the blankets aside and walked over to the window, he stared out across the city, the streets was bare of life but he could still hear the sound of cars driving past in the distance, he longed to run across the rooftops but Plagg was a pain to wake unless there was an Akuma. He wondered if Ladybug was asleep or if she too was awake Adrien loved his partner, she was confusing… She didn’t say much and when she did she stuttered over almost every word but through all that Adrien could tell she was  smart, kind and caring, there wasn’t a cowardly bone in her body, her lack of words didn’t stop her from saving lives, he hoped she would concur her nervousness soon, he wanted to get to know her better and it seemed like she wanted to get to know him too. There were so many things about her that he wanted to know, he knew she had a brilliant mind, her plans had gotten them out of some tricky spots and had even saved his life at times, he was lucky to have her as a friend and he was sure they would grow to be even better friends over time. 

  
He maneuvered his way in the dark towards his computer shaking the mouse, the screen lit up and illuminated his large bedroom, with a few clicks he pulled up Alya’s pride and joy 'The Ladybug’, footage of the latest Akuma had already been uploaded several hours earlier, he clicked on it and scrolled down to the comments, reading some of the newer ones, he hoped reading some of them would tire him enough for him to get some sleep. Adrien yawned and stretched glancing over to the alarm clock, 5:34 am it read in bright red letters, he looked towards the windows seeing the sun slowly rise over the rooftops, he glanced over to his bed and the mess of blankets and let out a sigh he had been looking forward to getting some sleep. He slowly stood up and started to make his bed he might as well start his day now.

 

* * *

 

  
Adrien sat happily at his desk waiting for Marinette to arrive, she was late, again, it was a terrible habit but he loved her all the same because it made her who she was. He kept his attention towards the board trying to pay attention to the lesson, he glanced up at the clock every few minutes watching as 5 minutes turned into 10 then 20, he was growing anxious, the loud ticks of the clock rang into the near silent classroom, he could bearly hear the teachers voice over it, he stared intensely at the clock watching the arms go round and round. He struggled to pay attention to the class and tried to focus on his tablet, he wrote down and erased the same answer several times. The sound of the classroom door being opened was a welcome relief, his eyes shot over to it and a wave of relief washed over him at the sight of the familiar sight of the twin tails and pink jeans. She stood shyly at the door looking around the class, her eyes fell on the empty spot next to him then up to her own spot, he watched as she put two and two together before trying to silently sneak into class.

“Marinette! May I ask why you are late,” the teacher asked.

“I… I…”

“Well?” he asked impatiently.

“I…” her head slumped in defeat, “I slept in again.”

“Well then I suggest you invest in an alarm clock then Miss Dupain-Cheng,” and with that, he returned to teaching the class.

Adrien expected to see some tears well up in her eyes but Marinette kept her head held high and quickly sat down pulling her tablet out, a few of their classmates began to whisper, Adrien shot them an angry glare and they quickly stopped.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” he whispered, his eyes watched the teacher carefully.

“I’m fine, so were seat buddies?” she asked quickly changing the subject.

“Yes, Alya’s idea, are you okay?” he asked again changing the subject back

“I’m fine, I promise, so how much did I miss?”

“I’d give you my notes for the start of class but I haven’t been paying attention.”

“That's unlike you.”

He shrugged his shoulders, “it's unlike you to be 20 minutes late.”

“Touchè.”

He turned his attention back to the lesson.

“Why does the first class of the day have to be a math class,” she said with a groan, “And why are we learning about triangles?"

Adrien smiled, he couldn’t resist the urge, “Mari, if you were a triangle, you’d be acute one.”

She shot him an angry glare, “I can’t believe I walked into that one., you know they’re getting worse.”

“I think they are amazing Marinette.”

“And that's why they are terrible,” she replied in a half-joking tone.

“One day I’ll find one you like.”

She rolled her eyes, “keep dreaming sunshine.”

“Oh I will,” he whispered in a flirty tone causing Marinette’s cheeks to turn a light shade of red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	3. Day Three: Embarrassing

Marinette kept her head down as she entered the school, Chloe had just come back from an extended holiday, the week without her had been pure heaven and Marinette didn’t want to deal with the girl this early in the morning, she wanted to put off the confrontation as long as she possibly could. There had been whispers in the week beforehand as soon as Adrien’s bold flirting had reached their ears, they whispered theories of Chloe's reaction, they were all different but they shared one thing in common, her rage… Her conversation with Alya the week before came flooding back.

 

Marinette started hearing whispers as she passed by, she was never able to hear what they were saying as they stopped talking when they realized she was walking past, so she turned to her best friend for the scoop.

 

_“Alya?” she questioned, “Why is everyone whispering behind my back.”_

 

_“Adrien, that's why You’re the only girl he flirts with, I thought you knew that.”_

 

_“Alya you don’t believe that,” she looked at her friend and Alya shrugged her shoulders, “Seriously?”_

 

_“What, I haven’t seen him flirt with anyone else.”_

 

_“Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”_

 

_“I thought you liked the flirting.”_

 

_“It’s… A little embarrassing at the time if I’m honest.”_

 

_“Really?”_

 

_“Yeah but I don’t mind it, it's just the way he is.”_

 

_“You know… I haven’t seen Chloe's reaction, I mean Adrien has been flirting with you from… well… since he started here but he’s gotten bolder…”_

 

_“Yeah… remind me to hide from Chloe the next time I see her in the halls.”_

 

_“Will do and Marinette?”_

 

_“Yeah?”_

 

_“Good luck, you’ll need it.”_

 

Marinette had known Chloe’s rage all too well, her younger years were full of it, she experienced it over small things it used to make her long for the days she and Chloe were friends, best friends but those years were over and it had taken a while for her to realize that.

 

Marinette slowly took one step at a time as to not draw the attention of her classmates, her mind was on the class ahead, science wasn’t her strongest subject, her last science project the year before had gotten her her lowest grade of that year, she hoped Alya had decided to keep the seating arrangements from the previous week, it had been fun to sit next to Adrien, he had helped her grasp many of the concepts that had flown straight over her head, she felt like she was actually getting ahead in her classes now an-

 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe’s shroud rang out from the courtyard below.

 

Marinette froze on the steps and looked down towards the clearly angry girl, she took a deep breath mentally prepare for the amount of screaming that was about to come her way, she slowly turned around to face Chloe as the girl stomped her way up the steps.

 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng!” the girl practically spat, “what do you think you’re doing?”

 

Marinette wanted to curl up in a ball at the moment, she could feel all eyes on her, she didn’t listen to her head and held her head high, “I’m going to class Chloe,” she responded sarcastically.

 

Chloe sent her an angry glare not appreciating her sarcasm, “with my Adrikins, Cheng,” she clarified frustrated with the fact she had to.

 

“Nothing.”

 

The girl seemed to glare at her even harder if she glared even hard Marinette swore she would shot lasers out of her eyes. “Don’t play dumb, don’t think I haven’t heard about how you’ve been flirting with my Adrikins, he’s mine, stay away from him.”

 

Marinette tried to open her mouth to retort something back but Chloè had already walked passed her, Sabrina sent her a sympathetic look before following Choè into the classroom. Marinette looked around to see all the eyes of the students staring at her, Chloè’s little outburst had gathered quite a large crowd, her cheeks started to burn red in embarrassment, she could hear chattering amongst the people, her cheeks started to grow and even brighter shade of red, she took a deep breath to regain her composure before heading up the rest of the steps to her class. Adrien gave her a strange look as she sat down beside him, Chloè sat in her usual spot in her front row looking proud of herself as she inspected her nails, she didn’t seem to notice the fact that she had entered the classroom. Alya bent over her desk to whisper in Marinette’s ears trying to find out what had happened out in the hall, she quickly waved off any questions and pulled her tablet out, she kept her head facing the chalkboard as the teacher started her lesson, the feeling of embarrassment slowly faded as time passed, it was just the distraction she needed, the little incident with Chloe soon faded from her memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	4. Day Four: Hide Me

Adrien ran away from his blond-haired childhood friend and what Chloe wanted, she usually got. Adrien hadn’t suspected anything wrong when he had received her invite for tea, she had asked him over many times before for tea before. He had sat down at the table and started piling a few biscuits onto his plate listening to what she was complaining about this time, he had added a few words here and there but he was more focused on the biscuits.

 

“Thank-you Adrien for agreeing to come on this date with me,” she said trying to sound sweet.

 

He chocked on the biscuit he had been eating in surprise, he never knew Chloe had liked him in that way so he had no idea how to respond, he didn’t exactly remember what he had said, he did remember saying something about Marinette, his childhood friends face had grown an ugly shade of red at the mention of the raven-haired girls name, he wished he had shut up at point but he continued and Chloe only seemed to get more upset, when he eventually decided to shut his mouth he could practically see the steam pouring out from her ears. Adrien had slowly risen from his seat and backed his way towards the door, he apologised to her saying he had forgotten he had something to do, Chloe’s anger seemed to grow with every step, he had only just closed the door when the blond haired girl started screaming. Adrien bolted at the sound, quickly navigating the confusing halls of The Grand Paris Hotel to the ground floor.

 

The streets of Paris were busy as they normally were on the weekends, tourists easily stood out from the Parisians as they walked slower and their eyes were full of wonder at the sights, it was easy to hide, he brushed past a few people and started walking towards home.

 

He let out a sigh of relief he was safe and-

 

“Adrikins!”

 

Or so he thought… He felt his heart leap out of his chest, he turned around to face her.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

 

He paused to think and then took off running, in what direction he didn't know it was just anywhere away from her, the tall 3 story building that was his school gave him some hope, it was only a street and a half away from the cream coloured exterior walls of his home.

 

He glanced behind to see if Chloe was still following him and wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, he tried and was sent crashing into someone knocking them and himself to the ground, they let out a yelp in pain as they made contact with the pavement.

 

He immediately started to apologise to them, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t… paying attention,” he kept glancing behind himself looking to see if Chloe was going to suddenly materialise out of the crowd.

 

“Adrien?”

 

"Marinette? I’m so sorry I didn’t realise it was you.”

 

He pushed himself off of her and she inspected fresh cuts along her arms and legs.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine Adrien, accidents happen.”

 

Adrien stood up and brushed the dirt off of himself before helping the small girl to her feet.

 

“Again, sorry.”

 

“Why were you in such a rush?”

 

“It’s hard to explain,” he took a quick look behind himself, he could see the blond hair and the sunburnt auburn hair of Chloe and her best friend Sabrina, they were still looking him.

 

“Marinette I’d explain but I need you to hide me.”

 

“What?”

 

Her eyes looked in the direction he was but couldn’t see what he could.

 

“Hide me!” his voice was shaky from the panic growing within.

 

“You sneak out again?” she teased.

 

“Marinette!” he whined growing anxious.

 

“Okay, okay, you can hide from the Gorilla in the bakery.”

 

“No! She’ll find me there.”

 

Marinette looked at him confused, “She?”

 

“Chloe, I… I kinda upset her,” he explained.

 

“Do I even want to know?”

 

He shook his head.

 

She let out a sigh and took his hand dragging him behind her into the bakery, she murmured something to her parents, he didn’t hear that because he was trying to steady his racing heart.

 

“So,” she asked leading him up the stairs, “what’d you do to upset Chloe?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, it must have something I said.”

 

Marinette opened the apartment door and made her way towards the small kitchen, she seemed to be on autopilot as she pulled cups out of the cupboard.

 

“Must have been something bad then cause I know for a fact she adores you.”

 

He nodded his head, he moved to sit at the small kitchen counter and let out a sigh, “that might have been the problem.

 

Marinette dropped the tea spoon she had been holding, “Oh no, tell me you didn’t break her heart.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“She told you didn’t she, she told you how she felt.”

 

“Uhh… she might have mentioned it…”

 

“Adrien…”

 

“I didn’t know how to respond so I told her something along the lines of liking something else, she didn’t take it well,”

 

“Well judging by the fact that you’re sitting here hiding in my kitchen… I’d say she took it horribly.”

 

“Marinette how do I fix this?”

 

“Unfortunately you just have to sit and wait.”

 

He groaned and gently placed his head in the counter, he felt Marinette’s fingers run through the blond mop that was his hair in support, if he had been in his suit he knew he would be purring.

 

“Don’t worry Adrien, she’ll come back around.”

 

“I hope so,” he murmured.

 

“Now,” she said removing his fingers from his hair, Adrien let out a silent whimper at the loss, “did you want tea or coffee?”

 

He looked up at her and pondered for a moment before deciding, “Tea, “ he responded with a smile.

 

He watched her move across the kitchen with grace, quickly pulling down a box, he assumed contained some tea bags, she reached for the kettle and picked it up to check the weight, happy with it she set it back down and turned the heat of the hot plate up to bring it to a boil.

 

“Any plans for this afternoon,” he asked.

 

She smiled at him placing the tea bags in the cup, “video games,” she replied with a shrug.

 

“May I join you?”

 

“I don’t see why not.”

 

He smiled brightly at her, “I bet I can bet you in mecha strike.”

 

“So you’ve finally recovered from your last beating,” she teased.

 

He glared at her, “you’re currently playing with fire Marinette, I was considering to go easy on you.”

 

“So that's what you call loosing.”

 

“Well we’ll just have to wait and see won’t we.”

 

“I guess we will.”

 

The kettle let out a loud screech behind her and she turned away from him. Adrien childishly stuck his tongue out at her when her back was turned away from him.

 

 

 

When all the tea had been drunk, Adrien chased the black-haired girl up the stairs to play video games, the day had turned out very differently than he expected but it was a nice surprise to spend the rest of the warm winter afternoon with Marinette, he couldn’t wait until he could do it again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	5. Day Five: Clumsy

Clumsiness, the one thing Marinette couldn’t fix, it was like it was ingrained into her DNA, it had caused her multiple broken bones throughout the years and countless sprains, cuts and bruises, she could just see a fresh set of bruises starting to show up on her arms from when Adrien had bumped into her earlier.

 

She smashed the buttons on her controller to land a final killing blow on Adrien’s bot, her bot did as she commanded and flung the opposing bot off screen, text flashed across the screen declaring her the winner, Her opponent let out a sigh.

 

“Did you want to go another round?”

 

He looked down at his phone and shook his head, “I have to get going, sorry Marinette but my father-“

 

“It’s okay Adrien, I understand, one of these days he’ll learn to trust you.”

 

“Hmm… One day but not today, unfortunately.”

 

“Here,” she said sadly, “I’ll escort you out.”

 

She gently placed the controller down on her desk and headed down the steps leading the way, Adrien quickly followed suit.

 

“Marinette?” he asked.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Thank you… For this afternoon, I really appreciate it.”

 

She turned her head to look at him and smiled, she lost her concentration on the steps, her foot slipped out from under her, Adrien tried to catch her but missed leaving her to try and recover from the fall herself. She stuck her arms out but that proved deadly by the sound of something snapping and the sudden pain in her left arm, she rolled over in pain clutching at her arm, she let out a small scream to try and counter the pain, a few tears dripped down her face, she was used to the pain that came along with a broken bone but it didn’t mean it made it hurt any less.

 

“Marinette! Marinette, are you okay?”

 

Quite a few more tears fell down her cheeks, “I… I… I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth, “but I need to go to the hospital, like right now.”

 

“Oh… Oh god, do I call-“

 

“No!” she said cutting him off, “My parents, it’ll be quicker.”

 

He nodded his head, “I don’t want to leave you.”

 

“Adrien,” she said calmly taking her time, “I’ll be fine for a minute, now-“ she sucked in the air through her teeth, “go, Adrien,” her voice was now urgent than before as her pain thresh-hold dwindled.

 

The boy nodded his head and threw open the front door, she heard his feet take the stairs two at a time to the floors below.

 

She looked down at her arm and winced, why did she have to be so clumsy.

 

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

 

She gave her Kwami a small smile, “I’m fine Tikki, nothing I haven’t experienced before, you should head upstairs before someone sees you.”

 

The red swami didn’t seem to believe her chosen’s words.

 

“Tikki, I’m fine, I promise.”

 

Tikki smiled before floating over to her, “I can fix your arm, It’s easy, it’ll be just like the cure.”

 

“Thank you for the offer Tikki but Adrien has already seen me with a broken arm if it’s suddenly fixed it’ll raise some questions.”

 

She let out a sigh, “Only if you’re sure.”

 

“I am Tikki, now go back upstairs.”

 

The Kwami did as she was told and took refuge up in her bedroom.

 

“Marinette?”

 

She turned her head, “Hi Papa.”

 

 

 

Marinette looked down at her newly plastered arm, it had taken over 5 hours just to get to this stage, Adrien had stayed with her the entire time having ignored the persistent calls from his father and his assistant, he kept mumbling something along the lines of her being more important, she had to hide the bright shade of red her cheeks turned overtime he said it, her father had to go back to the bakery, her mother was having a hard time keeping up with orders leaving the two alone together, her father had promised to come back once business at the bakery had died down. She looked over at Adrien as the nurse wrapped the final layer of bandages around her arm, he was still asleep in the old leather hospital chair, the nurse wrapped the final bit around her arm and smiled before head over to her next patient not having to explain anything as Marinette had been through this before and knew exactly how to take care of her fibreglass cast.

 

“Adrien, you need to wake up, its time to go.”

 

“No…” He whispered still asleep.

 

“Adrien, you really need to wake up,” she reached her right arm over to him and gently started to shake his arm, “Adrien… please, wake up.”

 

His eyes slowly opened, his eyes wildly scanned the room trying to piece together where he was.

 

“Mari?” he asked confused, “What's going on?”

 

“My arm has been plastered, so we can go now, we just need to sign out.”

 

“Oh… Right…”

 

She giggled, “I guess I have to let you wake up a bit don’t I?”

 

He shyly nodded his head, “yeah…”

 

“I thought I saw one of those expensive coffee-vending machines when we walked in.”

 

“Right and where is….”

 

“Down the hall to the right.”

 

“That's oddly specific, it would seem like you know exactly where it is.”

 

“I’ve broken my arm many times before Adrien, of course, I know where it is.”

 

“Did you want anything?” he asked standing up.

 

Marinette shrugged her shoulders, “Not really, I’ve always thought the ones out of that Machines tasted horrible.”

 

“But if I get you something will you drink it?”

 

“Yes, I will.”

 

She watched as the blond walked over to the grey double door and open it, the door swung shut, she could still see him through the windows at the top of the door, he looked down the corridors before turning right heading in the direction she had said. Marinette fished her phone out of her pocket, a few text messages from Alya and a few of her other friends lined her lock screen, she decided that now was a good time to respond them all telling them that she was okay, after that was done she scrolled through social media, liking and replying to posts, she was so focused on her phone that she didn’t see Adrien come back with two coffee cups.

 

“Here,” he said handing her a cup, “I decided to get you a latte.”

 

“Thanks, you didn’t get lost on your way back?”

 

“No, the machine just took a while,” he took a sip of his drink, she waited for him to spit the bitter tasting drink out.

 

“Taste horrible?”

 

“Wouldn’t know, I don’t drink coffee that much.”

 

“Me neither, I only drink it in desperate times.”

 

“And now is one of those?”

 

“Yep,” she answered taking a sip of her own drink, she quickly swallowed it before her taste buds could react.

 

“How many times have you broken your arm?”

 

“This one,” she responded holding up her plated arm.

 

Adrien nodded his head.

 

“3 times? I’m not sure, my right arm I know I’ve broken twice, once was during soccer practice when I used to play and the other was when I slipped on a really icy patch of road.”

 

“You don’t seem to have a lot of luck.”

 

“I’m just really clumsy.”

 

“I’m sure you’re not, you just have rotten luck.”

 

“Thank you for being modest.”

 

“No problem,” he took another sip of his coffee, he seemed to perk up a little bit.

 

“You awake now?”

 

“Yeah, the coffee’s helping, wait… where did your father go?”

 

“My Mother couldn’t handle the bakery by herself so he had to go back to help her, it sucks at times that they don’t hire help, my father is proud at times I’m glad they hirer help around Christmas though.”

 

“I think we should get going then,” he picked up her jacket of the back of the leather chair, “I’ll call a car it’ll be quicker.”

 

“Are you sure, your father-“

 

He nodded his head, “Come on let's go before I fall asleep.”

 

Marinette let out a giggle, before sliding off the chair and following picking up her backpack in the process, Adrien held out his hand for her take, she quickly swapped the coffee from her right to her left and took hold of his hand, somehow he managed to take her backpack from her, the two walked towards the exit doors and headed out into the pouring rain that was currently drenching the streets of Paris, she was glad she had let Adrien call a car.

 

“The car is just over here.”

 

Marinette felt her right arm being pulled along towards an unknown place, she quickened her pace to keep up with Adrien’s extremely fast one. Soon the Agreste’s silver car came into view, she walked even faster to get out of the rain, Adrien dropped her hand to open the car door for her, she got in and slid over to the other side. The car roared to life before Adrien had even got in the car and the car was already pulling out of the parking spot when he finally closed the door and put his seat belt on, she shot him a concerned look but he merely shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Does this happen often?” she whispered.

 

“Yep but only when my father is extremely pissed.”

 

“Did you want me to explain what-“

 

“No, you must be extremely tired, I can deal with my father.”

 

Marinette awkwardly moved her hand over to his, she squeezed his hand gently in support.

 

Soon the car came to a stop outside of the corner bakery, she reluctantly got out of the car and waved goodbye to Adrien before heading inside and up into her pink bedroom.

 

“You’re back!” he Kwami yelled excitedly.

 

“Hello, Tikki.”

 

The Kwami circled her chosen inspecting the white plaster on her arm.

 

“You sure are clumsy Marinette.”

 

She smiled letting out a small laugh, “yeah… I kinda am Tikki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	6. Chapter Six: Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: its hard to write one for this prompt…

Adrien had his own secrets, using his abilities as Chat Noir to sneak out of the large lavish mansion without his father's knowledge was one being a famed hero of Paris was another, he had many and now sneaking out at night to Marinette’s balcony was one. He shivered his way over to her, the image of her falling down the stairs haunted his dreams, he needed to make sure that she was okay. He reached the brick chimney above her room and flung open the wooden trap doors, he was greeted by her peaceful sleeping face, she was fine, she was okay, she wasn’t hurt, well she was but she was starting to heal, the plaster on her arm would make sure of that. Adrien slowly closed the wooden doors and walked over to her lawn chair and let out a sigh, he leaned back in the chair and looked out over the sleepy city, his eyes slowly fluttered shut and before too long he was fast asleep.

—————

Marinette stared out across the streets of Paris, the soft pink hues of the rising sun had set of a sombre feeling to the air, her sketchbook sat discarded on the wooden table behind in favour of the view, there was the slight smell of rain left in the air from the wild storm the night before. She cradled her left arm against her chest still not used to the plaster, she took a sip from the warm cup of hot chocolate, it was her only solace in the cold morning air as a soft breeze of cold air washed its way over her, she shivered slightly but stayed watching the winter sunrise, it was no secret that she loved mornings like this when she was able to wake up for it, the atmosphere made her sports come alive, a few birds chirped off in the distance a small indication of the spring that was about to come. The small chimney behind her billowed smoke, her parents were awake and had started making the sweets and baked bread for the day, she smiled as she thought about her parent's happy memories flooded back.

Her thoughts changed back the sleeping masked figure one her lawn chair behind her, she didn’t know when he showed up on her balcony, she suspected that it was some time during the night, she could ask Tikki but she didn’t want to accidentally wake the boy, he had given her quite the shock when she first climbed up having almost dropped her mug, she had quickly noticed that the boy had been shivering in his sleep and with a little bit of Tikki’s help she had quickly wrapped him in her largest and warmest blanket even though spring was approaching and the morning had warmed up a lot from the snowy depths of the winter months. She didn’t know what had drawn him to her small balcony, the two had only had a handful of conversations in the past and she struggled to speak to him when she was in and out of the suit but she didn’t dwell on that, the hero looked peaceful as he lay fast asleep and a lot warmer now. The more she stared at him the more Marinette could feel her cheeks grow warmer from the brush that was starting to form across them. She had kept her feelings for the blond hair superhero, it was one of her only two secrets that she had kept from her friend and she kept it safely guarded only Tikki knew the truth. She reached over to her sketchbook and pencil and started to sketch the sleeping form.

She didn’t want to wake her sleeping partner but she didn’t know his schedule and she needed to head down to the bakery to help out before the mid-day rush, she sighed and reluctantly put down her sketchbook, she walked over him and gently started to shake him slightly.

“Chat Noir, you need to wake up.”

“Ladybug?” he asked, his voice muddled with sleep.

She shook her head then realised he couldn’t see her.

“Chat, you need to get up, I have to head downstairs.”

“5 more minutes please.”

“Sorry, Chaton but you need to.”

“No…” he rolled over in an attempt to get away from her.

“Come on,” she said grabbing hold of one of the corners of the blankets and lightly pulled, “Its time to start the day sleepy head.”

She heard some of the fabric covering the duvet rip most likely from where his claws had dug in but she kept pulling until she had all of the blankets within her grasp, she dragged the blanket over to her trap door and dropped it on her bed bellow, she looked back at her partner to see he was now shivering in the fresh morning air.

“Chat if you get up I’ll give you the blanket back.”

The hero’s eyes slowly opened, he looked around the rooftop until his eyes finally fell on Marinette, “I… I can explain.”

“I’m- I’m sure you can, but I think you should go, the bakery will open in a few minutes and if someone sees you leave here, I don’t want you seen people will get the wrong idea.“

He placed a hand on her shoulder, her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest, “Okay…” he jumped up onto the balustrade and extend his baton.

“Wait! You can come back tonight if you like… To explain I mean.”

He smiled before giving her his signature salute, “See you then Princess,” and with that, he was gone.

Marinette let out a groan, that had to be the most awkward conversation she had ever had she planted her face in her hands in shame.

“Come on Marinette it wasn’t that bad,” her Kwami tried to reassure her.

“It sounded like I was trying to kick him out.”

“I’m sure he understood what you were actually trying to do.”

“Trying to get rid of him…”

“Mari… you need to stop beating yourself over this and similar cases.”

“It’s really hard Tikki.”

“I know and I help you get over this, Come on, you promised to help your parents.”

————

Marinette slowly wiped down the exterior of the glass case, getting rid of the sticky fingerprints of the children that had just been it the store.

She felt someone bump into her she turned around to apologise, “Adrien?” She stated in surprise, “How’d you get out of the house Nino said your father had essentially grounded you.”

He beamed at her, “Can you keep a secret?”

“I uh…”

“I snuck out my bedroom window, he doesn’t know about it yet and I would like to keep it that way.”

“So why are you here?”

“I came to see if you were okay, I didn’t get to talk to you after we left the hospital.”

“Awww, that's sweet but I’m fine Adrien,” she reached over the counter to ruff up his hair, “You’d head back, I remember the last time you did something like this your father tried pulling you out of school.”

“Worth the risk to be free of that bedroom.”

“Really?”

“Yeah and besides I think it's about time for some teenage rebellion.”

“Good Luck with that so what can I get you?”

“Marinette do you really have to ask?”

“Right,” she replied walking back behind the counter setting down her spray bottle and cloth, “Chocolate croissant, your favourite,” she slipped on a pair of plastic gloves, she picked up a pair of tongs and a brown paper back stuffing several croissant in the bag and even more when his back was turned.

“And how much is this time.”

“The same as it always is Adrien, free.”

“One day you’ll accept my money.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see then, now go home!” she yelled after him as he walked out the bakery door knowing that he wouldn’t listen.

She watched his long hair through the windows as he headed off in the direction of home, maybe she was wrong maybe he did listen to her, she smiled to herself as she returned back to her work, she slipped off the gloves dumping them into the bin that was safely hidden behind the bakery counter, she looked around for her spray bottle before realising that she had left it behind the counter.

——————

Adrien sat down on the park bench watching the carousel go round and round, the children screamed in delight as the wheel slowly got faster, he opened his bag of pastries to find more than what he thought he saw Marinette put in, he shrugged his shoulders, he really loved that girl at times, he took one out and bit into it, warm chocolate coated his tongue, he hummed in appeasement, he took another bite and soon the croissant was gone, he went to reach into the bag to grab another one when a crowd of people caught his gaze. He stuffed the back into his shirt and took off in the opposite direction of the crowd. He saw where they had run from an underground mall, he quickly descended the stairs, the storefronts had been smashed and the floor was now dripping wet, ‘Maybe there was a burst pipe…’ He explored deeper into the winding halls of the mall, the lights flickered above him, he could see a figure hiding behind a wall peering out at something, he followed their gaze and his eyes fell upon the Akuma, they were surrounded by a giant ball of water hovering in mid-air, the only thing that he could compare it to was the boring scene in ‘Revenge of the Sith.’ He stealthily moved up beside the figure hoping it was Ladybug.

But alas it was not, “Marinette what are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.

She looked at him in shock “Adrien? What- What are you-.”

He cut her off, “That doesn’t matter we need to get out of here,” he looked back at the Akuma, he hoped Ladybug would be able to handle it for a few minutes.”

He grabbed hold of her right arm pulling her out of cover and towards the door dodging several large balls of water in the process.

“What were you thinking! It’s a water Akuma you can’t get your cast wet.” He yelled back at her still pulling her along.

“I had to get something.”

“What?” He shouted angrily.

“Fabric for your Birthday present,” she mumbled.

He paused to look at her, his mouth formed a silent o at the revelation, “We need to get you home before your parents start to worry.”

“Don’t… Don’t tell them that I was near the Akuma, I told them that I was going to Alya’s.”

“As long as you don’t tell my father that I was here as well then it’ll be our little secret.”

“Deal.”

“We have to get you home,” he grabbed hold of her arm again, his girl on her was now a little more relaxed and Marinette easily kept pace with him, they rounded a corner and the three-story apartment and bakery came into view, he quickened his pace to reach it quicker.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I can easily sneak back into my room,” he technically wasn’t lying, he definitely wasn’t planning on heading back there just yet but he didn’t want to worry her by saying anything else.

“Are you sure, I have-“

“I’m sure Marinette,” the two stopped outside the front door to her home, “Please go inside.”

“Fine… You better go home.”

“I Will,” he waved goodbye and started to run in the direction of home to appease her before taking a sharp right and into a deserted ally way.

His black Kwami yawned and stretched, Adrien said his transformation phrase before he could speak, he extended his baton and ran back to the Akuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	7. Chapter Seven: Sweet Tooth

Adrien kept glancing over his shoulder, that grey car was definitely following him and by the quick glance he got at the number plate, it would his bodyguard trailing him curse his father's over-protectiveness, he rounded the corner pushing the large white door of the bakery, his nose was immediately hit with the sweet smell of cookies. 

 

“Hey Mari!” he called cheerfully to the raven-haired girl behind the counter.

 

“Back again? I thought yesterday’s batch would keep you away for a while,” she replied jokingly.

 

“Very funny…”

 

“Same as yesterday?”

 

“No, I have a bit of a sweet tooth today.”

 

“Really? So macaroons today.”

 

“You guessed it and before you ask, I didn’t sneak out-“

 

“I know, there wouldn’t a giant looming figure hanging outside the bakery,” she pointed over to one of the bakery windows, he could see the giant shadow his bodyguard was casting against it.

 

"Righ

 

 

His mouth watered as he opened the large bag, he loved the sweets, slices, croissants, cookies and macaroons of all different flavours greeted him, he was definitely throwing his regulated diet out the window, but he could easily work it off when fighting several Akuma’s. 

 

He wondered what Nino was doing and if his best friend would help him escape from his bodyguard. The Gorilla had kept his distance but he could still feel his ever watchful eyes, he could understand his father's concern, he was the son of a famous designer and was a semi-successful model himself occasionally getting recognised in the streets but that was only when he was actively trying to avoid his fathers grasp.

 

Adrien found himself feeling a lot more freed since he stopped trying to please his father, he still went to his modelling contracts and tried to follow his diet plan but didn’t really stick to it, he indulged his sweet tooth a lot more mainly by gorging himself on the bakery’s sweets.

 

—————

 

Adrien looked over at the empty brown bag, the yummy baked goods now sat in his stomach, he wanted more but the bakery was shut and going over there now would just be… odd… So a day or two without the sweet buttery taste of the croissants sadly had to be his reality.

 

“Kid, are we going to see that bakery girl before patrol or what?”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“She- She invited you back after you fell asleep on her roof last night…”

 

“How could I forget…”

 

He jumped up and ran towards his open bedroom window, calling his transformation, he jumped and extended his baton heading towards the small balcony.

 

Marinette was sitting on her pink lawn chair, she had two cups and a plate of macaroons sitting on her wooden table, waiting for him. He silently snuck up behind her to watch her sketch. 

 

A few minutes passed and he decided it was time to announce his presence, “Hello Princess, that dress turned out nice,” she jumped at his voice and spun around to look at him, he chuckled.

 

“Chat! Don’t scare me.”

 

“Sorry Princess, So I am I late?”

 

“No, right- right on t- time actually, I only j- just brought up the- the hot chocolate.”

 

“That's awfully kind of you,” he picked up the cup closest to him and took a sip.

 

“I brought up some macaroons, you’re welcome to- to have some.”

 

“Thank you, Marinette.”

 

He was a little disappointed that she didn’t bring up and any croissants but happily took one of the macaroons off the plate.

 

“So… Are- Are you going to- to tell me why you were here this morning,” she stuttered out.

 

“Maybe,” he replied taking another macaroon and biting into it, she didn’t say anything just waited until he decided to actually tell her why, he took a deep breath, “I couldn’t sleep so I ran along the rooftops until I felt tired, I sat down here to catch my breath and I accidentally fell asleep.”

 

“Sure…” she sounded unsure.

 

“It’s true Princess,” he snuck another macaroon off of the plate.

 

“I-“

 

“Well, I better get going Princess, I have some superheroing to do, See Ya,”  he gave her a small salute and jumped up off of the roof and headed off towards his starting point for his solo patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	8. Day Eight - A Favour Only You Can Do

 

The phone beside her rang, she glared angerly at it, it was 11 o'clock what could be so important to wake her from her peaceful slumber, she groaned throwing a pillow over her head before tossing it off and answering it.

 

"What?" she murmured frustratedly into the receiver.

 

"Marinette, I... I need a favour and only you can do it." Adrien's panicked voice echoed back.

 

"Can- Can it wait?"

 

"No, I kinda need it now..."

 

She let out a sigh, "What is it?"

 

"A shirt, there's a gala on and I can't ask my father he'll get upset that I ripped it, please Marinette, If you help I'll-"

 

"I'll be over in five, what colour is the shirt?"

 

"white..."

 

"Cool, Like I said over in five."

 

"Wait! stay...  stay on the phone., please."

 

"Adrien?"

 

"Please..." he begged.

 

“Fine."

 

She tossed the blankets aside and made her way down to her little sewing nest below, she made her way over to her recently organised thread box, her travel kit was nestled in one of its many drawers she grabbed it and the two white spindles and tossed them into her purse. The phone switched from her left shoulder to her right as she grabbed hold of her jacket and pulled on a pair of her warmest boots. She headed downstairs, murmuring replies into the receiver, her mother was sitting at the kitchen counter, a small cup of green tea and some pancakes sat in front of her, she smiled at her and silently poured herself a cup of tea in a to-go cup, she gave her mother a peck on the cheek and headed towards the front door, her mother yelled goodbye behind her.

 

Her feet descending the stairs echoed in the hall until she reached the ground fall, she opened the back door to the bakery and headed inside, her father was at the ovens pulling out a new batch of bread out of the oven.

 

“Hi Papa, I’m heading out.”

 

“Take some of the croissants with you!” he called.

 

She snatched a pack of prepackaged chocolate croissants and headed out the front door towards the large cream walled mansion down the street.

 

“You grab croissants?”

 

“Yep, your favourite.”

 

“Yes,” he hissed back, “Thank-you.”

 

“No problem.”

 

“I still have to find a way to repay you.”

 

“It’s what friends do.” Silence flooded the call, “Adrien?” she asked concerned that her reception had dropped out.

 

“Sorry, I’m here, call dropped for a second.”

 

“Thought so. The Gala, what’s it for?”

 

“The usual, small promotional stuff to get ready for the spring releases, it’s just to please the investors.”

 

“Right so I have to make the rip in the shirt practically unnoticeable.”

 

“I Don’t expect a miracle.”

 

“Yeah but you’re hoping for one.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“I’m almost there.”

 

“I'm waiting for you to arrive, my love.”

 

“Hush, you can have the croissants in a minute, you just have to wait,” she bantered back.

 

“But I love them.”

 

“I know, that’s why I grabbed them."

 

* * *

 

 

“You tricked me…”

 

There was no ripped shirt just Adrien standing in a pristine suit.

 

“Sorry, but I really don’t want to go alone, the gala is really boring without someone to talk to, besides I kinda already asked your mother.”

 

“You… could have just asked normally.”

 

“Sorry, Will you still go with me?”

 

“I would be a shitty person if I said no, I’m guessing there is an outfit stashed in your bathroom because this has been planned for weeks.”

 

“Yep, I asked Alya for help so judge her, not me.”

 

She rolled her eyes and closed the bathroom door, pressing her back against it, the light pink spring dress was hanging up on one of the hooks, it was simple but pretty, a silk scarf was with it as well, she quickly changed her clothes and inspected it in the mirror, it was most definitely her style and she was already in love with it. She slowly wrapped the scarf around her neck and exited the bathroom. Adrien handed her a pair of white stiletto’s and she lent against the wall slipping them on.

 

“Are you sure these are a good idea,” she indicated to the cast on her arm.

 

“Yep, we all suffer in the name of fashion.”

 

“That's sadly the truth.”

 

“Come on,” he held out his left arm for her to take, “Let's go.”

 

* * *

 

"Adrien? why did you talk me into coming along?” Marinette groaned, bored of the interactions with the older guests.

 

"Because I'd rather not suffer alone."

 

"I'm seriously out of my mind bored, at least I have some eye candy," she joked.

 

Adrien's cheeks grew bright red at her comment, "You- you- you're not allowed to do that."

 

"What?" she finally realized the shade his cheeks had turned, "Sorry..."

 

"We should probably dance, my father has given me a list of... obligations  that I have to do."

 

"does he ask you to do that this at every event?"

 

"yep."

 

“Than I say you don't have to do it this time."

 

“Right…”

 

“Adrien!” A female voice interrupted, Adrien took a step forward.

 

"Kagami, I didn't know you were coming, you remember Marinette," Marinette felt her arm being tugged forward, she didn't resist and Adrien pulled her towards the short haired girl.

 

The girl's eyes fell upon her and Marinette suddenly felt out of place, “I remember, my first one on one competition with you, she saw the final hit, It’s nice to see you again.” 

 

Marinette shook the girls awaiting hand, “It’s good to see you again too.”

 

“So Adrien dragged you along to this dreary party,”

 

“Yes, He needed a… favour done and this was my repayment.”

 

“isn’t that cute, could I borrow Adrien for a minute.”

 

Marinette nodded her head and Kagami took Adrien’s hand pulling him behind her towards an unknown destination. She watched his blond hair disappeared from view, she glanced around the small open garden, she took a sip of her lemonade before putting the half drunk cup down and headed further into the garden to find something to keep her from dying of boredom. The garden was bare of any plant life, full of green and more green but her Kwami seemed to enjoy the fresh air. 

 

She happily strolled around the garden as Tikki describe what each plant was and exactly how the flowers would look if it was in bloom, she reached into her purse and started to sketch a floral summer dress, she was lost in a world of pink, purple, blue and red scented flowers that Tikki was describing to her. She found a large oak tree that had some shade from the mid-afternoon sun she sat down on the green grass and continued to sketch as Tikki floated beside her, she quickly lost track of time.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Hey Adrien,” she replied in a casual tone, still sketching her now 5 design for the day.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Designing, I had nothing else to do after you and Kagami left.”

 

“I tried looking for you…”

 

“Oh… Sorry, I kinda get lost while designing.”

 

“I’ve noticed,” he sat down next to her glancing over her shoulder to see her sketch, “What’s the inspiration for that piece?”

 

“The Garden… If it was spring.”

 

“Cool, I would like to stay but it's four o’clock.”

 

“What? It’s only just-“ her phone screen confirmed what he had just said, “Wow…”

 

“Yep… Come on Mari, I’d hate to ruin your flow but I’m afraid I promised your parents to get you home before the bakery closes.” He stood up and held his hand out for her to take, she accepted it and he slowly helped her to her feet.


	9. Chapter Nine: Birthday Gifts

His birthday, one of his five favourite days of the year, it wasn’t because of the gifts although it had been when he was younger but in recent years, to help him cope with his mother’s sudden disappearance Natalie had stopped scheduling his extra classes and any modelling gigs, it was in some way her birthday gift to him, his father… Apart from the time he tried to pass off one of Marinette’s gifts as his own, his gift never changed from the silly over expensive pen he usually got. Nino tried to keep up with Adrien’s interests but the amount of money Adrien had usually meant he already had it by the time his birthday rolled around but it didn’t stop Nino from trying in the end. Alya, she usually helped Nino with his gift but occasionally she picked something out that she thought he would like. His other classmates usually got him a card but by far Marinette’s hand-made gifts were his favourite, he could see the amount of time and care that went into each and every one of them, he wore all of them with pride, (whenever he got the chance of course,) he had started hiding them in his wardrobe so they wouldn’t accidentally get thrown out.

 

Natalie entered the dining room his schedule in her hands, he put down his spoon a took it from her hands, she quickly left the room leaving him with the schedule, he turned the screen on expecting to see an extremely uneventful day ahead of him but… he let out a sigh in disappointment at seeing his overloaded schedule, 8 am class, 10 am photo shoot, 11 am class, 1 pm finish the rest of the photo shoot, 2 pm class, 3:15 pm fencing, 4 pm Chinese. He was lucky that his father had decided not to break up his class time with his friends. Adrien dug his spoon into the bowel of cereal quickly eating it so he could get to class earlier to see all of his friends while he was still in a somewhat happy mood.

 

“Cheer up kid, some days have to be horrible so that the good ones stand out.”

 

“Since when did you become a philosopher Plagg?”

 

“Since you needed me too, now eat so you can see that Bakery girl faster.”

 

He continued eating trying to ignore the sudden warmth in his cheeks as his Kwami chuckled to himself through mouthfuls of cheese.

 

————

 

“Happy Birthday Adrien!” his best friend yelled from the top of the stairs.

 

He smiled at him and rushed up the stairs towards him, “Thanks, Nino.”

 

“So what do you want me to do about one Mayor Bourgeois’s daughter while you head up and see your blue-eyed crush.”

 

A light blush sprinkled across his cheeks, “I don’t think we will have to try very hard, she has been avoiding me for the last week and a half…”

 

“What’d you do?”

 

“I’ll tell you later, but please If Chloe-“

 

“I know, now head in, Alya may or may not have topped my gift this year.”

 

“I still can’t believe you told her.”

 

“The woman is scary at times and she had me cornered.”

 

“Doesn’t mean-“ he lowered his voice, “doesn’t mean tell her about my crush on her best friend.”

 

“Sorry man, I’ll make it up to you someday but hey,” he said shrugging his shoulders.

 

Adrien waved goodbye before heading up the steps only to be stopped by his friend again, “Wait,” he paused and looked back at him, “Happy Birthday,” he said again pushing a small wrapped gift into his hand, a small card sat atop it, “From Alya and me, she would kill me if I didn’t say it was.”

 

“What is it?” he queried.

 

“You’ll have to open it to find out.”

 

Adrien let out a groan, “Fine…” he responded dragging out the ‘e’.

 

He turned and headed back up the steps, other students greeted him in the halls each with their own birthday wishes, he ignored all the fangirls trying to hand him flowers as headed towards the class. The sound of girls laughing reached his ears as he climbed the steep steps, Marinette’s laugh stood out from the group, he hadn’t even seen her and yet his heart felt like it was about to burst from his chest, he couldn’t stop speculating what she had designed this year, would it be another scarf, a shirt or a hat, it was at one point important enough for her to run headfirst into an Akuma. He struggled to contain his excitement the closer he got to the green door, he tried his best to walk into class as nonchalantly as possible.

 

“Adrien!”

 

His heart felt like it had just burst at the sight of her, her hair had been done up in an elaborate bun, he could see a braid carefully wrapped around it keeping it in place, her usual clothes had been replaced by a grey long-sleeved knitted shirt and a bright red mini skirt with black tights to hide her legs, she was beautiful, she was always beautiful in his eyes but… today she was even more so.

 

“Marinette,” he tried his best not to sound speechless.

 

“Happy Birthday Adrien,” she replied handing him the wrapped present in her hands.

 

He looked down at the neat wrapping paper, she had taken even more time with the pastel pink wrapping paper making sure it was perfect. He could feel the box beneath the paper but the object within wasn’t heavy.

 

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Alya asked.

 

The question seemed to be enough to shake him from his dazed stupor, his fingers travelled down the side of the box trying to find an opening.

 

“Just rip it, Adrien,” Alix yelled from the back, he ignored her and slowly removed the wrapping from the box, he opened it and peeked inside, a read jacket sat neatly folded inside, he carefully pulled it from its cardboard confines to inspect it.

 

“I overheard you say a few weeks ago, just before Christmas I think that you wanted something to support our heroes of Paris and… I thought-“

 

“Marinette… It’s perfect, I… I… I love it, thank you,” Her nervous smile disappeared at his words. 

 

He pulled her towards him for a tight embrace being careful not to crush her plastered arm, her right arm slowly snaked it’s way around him, the smell of her strawberry and raspberry shampoo hit his nose, he caught sight of Alya over Marinette’s shoulder, her phone was in her hands and she was most likely snapping as many pictures as she could, he would have to ask her to send it to him later. Adrien felt Marinette push slightly against his chest, he did as he was told and let go of her, silently morning the loss.

 

“I’m glad you like it, Adrien.”

 

The loud ringing of the school bell rang loudly into the classroom, shutting down any chance for him to reply, his classmates all shuffled to their seats. He took a closer look at the jacket, it was in the style of a varsity jacket, the chest and accents were black, the back had been embroiled with the two hero’s logo’s, one was overlapping the other, the right sleeve was red and the left was green corresponding to the side in which the logo’s sat on the back. He was truly proud of all the effort she had put into it in such little time, she had really outdone herself, he quickly peeled off his over shirt and slipped the jacket one just as Ms Mendev’s voice boomed over the class, he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: do I have to do the next prompt? yes yes, I do, I can pun whenever I want but when trying to write can I? Nope…
> 
> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	10. Chapter Ten: Puns

Marinette stared blankly at the screen, trying to plan the assignment she had just been handed earlier that day, she had no idea where to start. 

 

“I’ve done it, the pun war has begun!” Nino shouted, getting a few angry glares from other students

 

“What my lovely boyfriend is trying to say is that it starts tomorrow,” Alya interjected.

 

“You got the teachers to agree?” Marinette asked.

 

The two nodded their head, “Remember no telling Adrien cause no one like to spoil birthday presents,” Alya reminded her.

 

“Don’t worry I won’t, but how does…”

 

“Hundred chances equals a hundred soldiers, someone says a pun to you, you have 10 seconds to deflect, you don’t you lose a ‘solider’, you successfully defect they lose, simple,” Nino explained again, how he had come up with the idea she really didn’t know but it sounded interesting and she couldn’t wait to play.

 

 

* * *

 

Marinette was getting tired of this 2 days into the week and she was already thinking about not showing up for the next week, how were the others doing this, the puns were growing harder and harder to come up with, she knew that she would have to ask Adrien for help but that would be admitting defeat but… defeat was preferable then marching her remaining ‘soldiers’ off a cliff, she tracked him down after school, his father had forced him to attend his fencing classes to make up for the fact he skipped it on his birthday, he also had to attend the photoshoots that also had to be rescheduled because he had skipped, the boy was a little upset, she could tell as soon as recess came around and he ran for the silver car parked out front, and then the same during lunch.

 

She waited outside the front gate for the black jacket she had spent weeks embroidering to appear out of the front gate, finally after 15 minutes it emerged, she called to him.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Adrien, I need a favour… Can you teach me how to… uh… pun?”

 

He chuckled slightly, “Marinette, that's not how it works, I can’t teach you because its a natural talent.”

 

“Please Adrien,” she begged, “Please…”

 

“Marinette pleading with me isn’t going to change my mind,” he said heading down the steps to the recently arrived silver car.

 

She crossed her arms, “fine, any pastry you like for a week.”

 

“Still no,” he called back.

 

“Two weeks!” she shouted.

 

“hmmm… tempting but still no,” he opened the car door and threw his bag in the backseat.

 

Marinette closed her eyes and yelled her final offer, “An entire month,” her voice sounded like a whisper.

 

The blond paused to ponder her offer, “Well… that’s extremely tempting but… if you make it two then I’d say we have a deal.”

 

Marinette nodded her head, “Fine,” she said with a groan, “Two months,” she headed down the steps towards him and held her hand out for him to shake.

 

“Two months,” he reiterated in agreement, he shook her hand before taking a seat in the car, “We’ll start on Monday before school.”

 

Marinette shot him an exasperated look, “Why… Why-“

 

“Because,” he replied cutting her off, “It will give you a full day to put what you have learned to the test.”

 

He closed the car door and the car drove away from the curb. It was going to be a long weekend.

 

* * *

 

“Why do we have to do this before school? why can’t we just talk over the phone,” she asked him, the movie played through the screen sharing site they were using, the bowel of popcorn sat discarded beside her, a very full red Kwami had fallen asleep halfway through the bowling movie.

 

“You a legit no fun Mari,” her phone was held up to her ear so she could hear him.

 

“Adrien, you can’t expect me to actually show up 30 minutes before the bell, I struggle to make in on time sometimes.”

 

“You’ve been getting better.”

 

“Yeah I know, but I can’t make any promises.”

 

“purrmises.”

 

“sorry… Wait is that why you insisted on this movie?”

 

“Cat puns are the easiest,” she could practically hear him shrug his shoulders.

 

“I still can’t believe they managed to arrange this for your birthday.”

 

“me neither, How many of your metaphorical soldiers do you have left?”

 

“10…”

 

“Wow, who’s been picking on you?”

 

“Kim, each and every time too.”

 

“That sucks, Maybe my skills will help you, I might as well just write down a bunch for you.”

 

“I need help, I don’t need a victory handed to me.”

 

“we both know I’d bet you.”

 

“Not if someone takes you out first…”

 

“Is that a threat?”

 

“Kinda, I know Alya, Alix and Rose are trying to take you out after you took Juleka out of the game,” Marinette reached over to the bowel grabbing a handful of popcorn, he gaze still focused on the movie on screen.

 

“It’s nice to know there is a gang after me.”

 

“Maybe I should just admit defeat.”

 

“No! I’m too invested you have to stay…”

 

“fine…”

 

* * *

 

Marinette leaned against the classroom door waiting for her friends to pack away their tablets.

 

“Hey, Marinette.”

 

“Hey, Kim.”

 

“You are the sweetest person I know,” he said trying to take the small box of macaroons in her hands.

 

“That's Adorable,” she responded not realising the pun.

 

Kim didn’t say anything in reply but walked away with his head hung low.

 

Marinette was really confused, “What did I say?” she asked her small group of friends.

 

“You just killed one of his soldiers M,” Alya explained.

 

“I…”

 

“A - door - able? you’re leaning against a door M.”

 

“Oh…” she said as it suddenly clicked, she looked over at Adrien to see that he was smiling proudly at her, she felt giddy inside as the group of four headed to lunch.

 

* * *

 

Marinette soon found ’the art of puns’ as Adrien had coined it came naturally to her, she started defeating her class members left and right, even removing some of them from the game.

 

“You are a serious threat to me Mari,” Adrien reply sarcastically.

 

“What? I’m not even trying anymore.”

 

“I can see that, are you glad you stuck around now?”

 

“A little, the game became a lot more fun without Kim coming back over and over again.”

 

“I’m glad to hear it.”

 

“Thank you, for helping me along.”

 

“No problem Marinette, just know I won’t go easy on you.”

 

“I didn’t expect you to.”

 

“To quote an extremely famous quote from the Hunger Games, May the Odds be ever in your favour.”

 

“This is war…” she replied.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Facetime

FaceTiming her had been an accident, a happy accident but an accident. He played it off as best as he could acting like he meant to do it, Marinette didn’t seem to notice and simply accepted the new addition by asking him for a few answers on the science homework. Adrien was a little nervous at the start constantly glancing over and being hyper-aware of everything he did but with Marinette being so nonchalant his fears quickly dissipated.

“So did you see the latest video Alya posted in the group chat earlier?” she asked, her voice emanating from the phone’s tiny speakers, she wasn’t looking at the camera, her face was buried in her sketchbook. “The fight looked amazing,” she continued, “but I can’t believe she-“

“Continues to get closer and closer with each fight,” he replied finishing her sentence, “I swear Nino is going to have a heart attack if she gets any closer,” he stared blankly at his computer screen, not remembering why he had booted it up in the first place.

“Maybe we should stage an intervention.”

“Do you think she’ll listen?”

Marinette shrugged her shoulders, “won’t know until we try, unfortunately.”

“Maybe we should FaceTime her during a fight and yell at her when she gets too close,” he suggested.

“Sounds like a plan but I think we both know that she won’t listen to me.”

“And she won’t listen to me… so…”

“Nino.”

“Nino,” he agreed.

“Should we call him?”

“No, later,” he looked back over to her, “What are you doing?”

“sketching…”

“what do you want to do afterwards?”

“No idea maybe 1v1 Mecha?” she suggested.

“Don’t feel like it, I want to do something different.”

“Hmm… How about a movie?”

“I wish I could but-“

“It’s Saturday and your father has confined you to the house because of the fact that you skipped your schedule on your birthday,” she replied finishing his sentence.

“Yeah, we could watch one online.”

“And continue to FaceTime, that might work.”

“Did you want me to start looking for something to watch?”

Marinette nodded her head.

“Any preference?”

“No horror, I haven’t gotten over the last one Alya made us all watch.”

He chuckled, “it wasn’t that bad. Was it?”

“I will not confirm nor deny the fact that I had nightmares for weeks.”

“Aw Marinette…”

“Stop,” she deadpanned.

“Sorry, so no horror and I’m guessing no romance.”

“Correct.”

“That leaves… Musicals and action movies left on our list.”

“Really?,” she asked, he heard the sound of a pencil being dropped from her end, “I thought we had several more left to go.”

“Nope,” he replied hoping the ‘p’ “we got rid of most of them a few weeks back during the rainstorm.”

“Ohhh… yeah, I completely forgot about that.”

“I knew you would, you were extremely tired.”

“So, what movie have you chosen?”

“I’m still scrolling Mari.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued in the next prompt
> 
> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	12. Chapter Twelve: "Adrien's Girlfriend."

 His cheeks went bright red, he was flattered that other people thought that he and Mari would make a cute couple but he never thought they would be mistaken for one, he needed to lie low for a little bit just to think over how he as going to tackle the issue, well that's what he told himself, realistically he didn’t want the rumours to die down, his school mates were in a sense helping him live his dream. Seeing Marinette daily, her ever-present shadow over his should in class and on occasions joining her and Alya for lunch they were a highlight of his day, why had he forgotten that Nino was going to see him that afternoon.

 

_'Adrien laughed at the antics of the villain on screen, Marinette was laughing along with him, they were an hour and a half into their third movie for the day, a half-eaten bowl of popcorn sat beside him and a new list of movie categories had been drawn up, this one with keywords, movies about killer plants and horribly made superhero movies, they indented to make sure this list would last a lot longer than three weeks._

 

_"Adrien where did you find this movie?"_

 

_"I have my ways Mari, I can not tell you my secret for it is too dangerous for a mere mortal."_

 

_"Adrien!"_

 

_"What?" he said through a laugh, "its true."_

 

_"Sure and I'm Ladybug," her voice crackled through the speaker, he glanced over to see the picture had distorted._

 

_"Fine... I just googled some of the keywords on our list and this one sounded interesting, it's not that hard."_

 

_A loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the house, he could hear the echo on Marinette's end, she looked up at her ceiling in fear, the fairy lights behind her flickered._

 

_"That was... loud," she whispered._

 

_"Yeah..."_

 

_"You Okay?"_

 

_"Yeah... My Parents are away on business and that sounded like a massive storm."_

 

_"You're welcome to stay here," he offered, he had been working up the courage to ask her two movies ago._

 

_"I'm not scared," she said defensively._

 

_"I didn't say you were, I was just offering."_

 

_"I... Thank-you, I... it's probably best if I do come over, I don't think my internet will hold out and I kinda want to see the end of this movie."_

 

_"Really that's it?" he replied in a half-joking tone._

 

_"What? I see you 5 days a week most of the time."_

 

_"You're..."_

 

_"Adrien... I'm kidding, I normally can't sit through a movie, of course, I'm not coming over just to see the end of a movie."_

 

_"I... don't do that again please."_

 

_"Aw Adrien..."_

 

_"Alright, alright, stop."_

 

_"I'll be over in 10."_

 

_"You're not going to stay on the phone?"_

 

_"I was, don't act so scared, just let me grab my keys."_

 

_"Don't forget the umbrella!"_

 

_"Thank you," she shouted back as she disappeared from the small screen._

 

_The was some ruffling off screen as another loud boom of thunder echoed across the city, he looked over to his window to see a few drops of rain starting to fall._

 

_"Mari it's starting to rain..."_

 

_"I know!" she called back, "Found them!"_

 

_"Found what?" he asked as she appeared back on screen, "My keys, I couldn't find them."_

 

_The camera blurred as Marinette turned to exit the apartment and lock the door._

 

_"You grab an umbrella?"_

 

_"Yep! It's in my pocket," the sound of fabric being patted came through the speakers, "How heavy is it?"_

 

_He glanced out his own window, "The rain? Not that heavy yet but looks like it's about to be."_

 

_"So walk quickly?" There was a sound of a lock clicking into place, he assumed it was her front door, as she continued down the steps._

 

_"Yep."_

 

_"So... you have any more movies after this one?"_

 

_"I have a few lined up, but if you want to pick I'm fine with-"_

 

_"No I'm fine with whatever, I'm not that picky remember?"_

 

_"Yeah but still..."_

 

_"Adrien, I'm-" Marinette let out a shriek in surprise and she disappeared from the view of the camera._

 

_"Marinette! Marinette!"_

 

_"I'm fine... Stupid car," she muttered._

 

_Adrien let out a sigh of relief when a newly soaked Marinette reentered the camera view, "You okay?"_

 

_"Fine just..."_

 

_"Soaked."_

 

_"Yeah, I'm going to need a change of clothes."_

 

_"Looks like it, lucky for you I have a wardrobe full of designer clothes I don't wear."_

 

_"rub it in..." she quipped still annoyed at her dampened state, "I'm almost at the gate..."_

 

_"I'll come down and open it, it'll be easier to sneak you past Natalie."_

 

_"Hurry up please, I'm starting to get cold."_

 

_"On my way."_

 

_Adrien rushed over to the bedroom door, he glanced down the stairs towards Natalie's desk relieved to find it empty, he raced down the stairs and pressed the button hidden under her desk to open the large metal gates, his fathers voice was loud in the relatively quiet house, a few words were audible through the office door the temptation to press his ear to the door to find out what was going on on the other side of the door._

 

_"Adrien," Marinette whispered behind him, "What are you doing?"_

 

_"Nothing just... let's go before Natalie comes out."_

 

_She nodded her head and made her way up the marble stairs towards his bedroom, he followed a few steps behind her keeping his ears trained on the door behind him, he was on high alert, it was only when they were both safe in his room with the door closed did he relax a little._

 

_"I'll go find you some clothes, you should probably have a shower."_

 

_'I plan on it, I'm freezing."_

 

_"Feel free to use anything."_

 

_"Thank you, Adrien."_

 

_Marinette headed towards his large bathroom, he could see her shivering slightly, he headed towards his wardrobe once she was safely inside the bathroom._

 

_Clothes of different colours lined the walls of the relatively large room, he headed towards the end where his larger jumpers were, sat snugly at the back was the jumper Marinette had claimed a few months back, he had kept it away from his fathers view as it didn't meet his selection of clothes specially chosen for him to wear to keep up the appearance of being Gabriel Agreste's son. He didn't quite remember where the warn jumper had come from, it was possibly his fathers at some point but he didn't seem the type to wear such things, he grabbed a stray pair of sweat pants from a shelf and headed back to the bathroom door, he couldn't hear any running water on the other side he didn't realize how long he had spent staring at the jumper, he shakily raised his hand to the door and knocked._

 

_"Marinette?"_

 

_"I'm still in the... the shower area, I'll close the dividing door just leave them on the counter."_

 

_"Okay... I'm coming in." he warned before opening the door, he opened the door slightly and placed the clothing where she had specified and quickly shut the door, "okay, they're on the counter."_

 

_he heard a small thank you in response, he smiled and headed over to his sofa and to his laptop, the movie still sat paused, he quickly connected it to the TV for when Marinette emerged from the bathroom._

 

_"Hey Man."_

 

_Adrien felt his eyes go wide in surprise and turned around to see his friend._

 

_"Nino... I..."_

 

_'forgot I was coming, you ready for game night?"_

 

_Adrien face-palmed how could he forget, Saturday... He looked over at the bright red numbers displayed on the alarm clock on his bedside table, 5 o'clock..._

 

_"Nino this isn't the time, I-"_

 

_Adrien could practically feel his small world crashing around him as Marinette opened the bathroom door, "Kill me now..." he whispered internally._

 

_"oh... well I guess I'll see you at school on Monday, don't forget your Literature book at mine next time please, I don't want to have to walk through a rainstorm again," Adrien was relieved his friend had decided to make the excuse, it was a horrible one but still it was one, "Goodbye Adrien, Bye Mari!" Nino called heading for the door._

 

_'Bye Nino!" Marinette replied with a wave, "Ready when you are," she said turning to him._

 

_"Right..." he hit play and the movie continued.'_

 

The small mistake had spiralled out of control, he had spent all day Sunday tiring to explain to Nino that he and Mari weren't an item but once Alya had gotten her claws into him there was no changing his mind. He could hear the whispers of the other students around him, it was the same conversation _"Adrien's New Girlfriend,"_ or some variant of it, he could feel his cheeks grow red the more he heard, he quickened his pace as he headed towards his classroom. He was surprised to see Marinette sitting in her spot 10 minutes before the bell.

 

"Marinette... I tried to-"

 

"I know."

 

"How..."

 

"Just do, now sit down," she patted the spot next to her.

 

"We need to stop the rumours from spreading further."

 

"At lunch, not now, we don't have time right now."

 

"And it was Mark Twain who said 'A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes' Mari we have to start now," he pleaded.

 

"Okay, okay, calm down Adrien, how do you want to handle it because you're not going to change peoples minds by telling them we're not dating, it's only going to make them double down."

 

"I... uh..."

 

"That was your plan?"

 

He shyly nodded his head.

 

"Gosh, you're so naive."

 

"Wel,l what's your plan."

 

"Simply do nothing, if they see nothing different then they know its a rumour."

 

"Do you really want to risk that?"

 

Marinette simply shrugged her shoulders, "Yep."

 

"Okay then," he replied sounding unsure of her plan but then again if her plan didn't work he had no quarrels with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Good Luck.

Marinette stared at her trunk, she had no idea why he had asked her to his fencing competition, she had shown some interest before but... Why hadn't he asked Nino and Alya? Alya had made it clear that she and Nino hadn't been asked and seemed a little upset at the fact, it took Nino several minutes to calm her down to a stage where she could at least finish her lunch though it didn't stop her from mumbling several angry words under her breath as she ate. Two outfits sat on top of her trunk she had no idea which one to wear the green dress Nino said or the more conservative blue jeans and red top Alya had suggested, they weren't exactly the people Marinette would ask for Fashion advise but they were the only friends she had.

 

"Tikki, which one do yo-"

 

Tikki cut her off, "I Can't help you Marinette, Sorry."

 

"But Tikki... Please...." She begged.

 

"Hmmm... Fine, the red."

 

"Thank you, Tikki."

 

She snatched the clothes off of the trunk and raced down the steps to the bathroom. Styling her hair was simple, a single ponytail, and her look was complete with a pair of black ballet shoes that she wore everywhere, she grabbed her bag off the white sofa. 

 

She glanced down at her phone screen spotting the time, "Oh no, I'm Late," she muttered to herself, "Tikki! I'm Leaving!" She called up to her Kwami.

 

A bright red flash dashed down the steps and dove into her purse.

 

Marinette let out a small giggle, "You ready Tikki?"

 

"Ready Marinette," she chirped back, a small smile was spread across her face, "Let's get going before you miss Adrien's turn."

 

"Right Tikki," she grabbed her keys from the bookshelf closest to the door and headed down the steps, she gave her parents a kiss goodbye before heading out the bakery doors towards the school.

 

A small crowd had gathered at the front gate, Marinette didn't realise that fencing was that popular, she ducked in and out of the crowd managing to get inside within a few short minutes. People lined the sidelines, none of them had taken a seat yet as they conversed about random subjects, she tried not to push past them as she got closer to the seats. The metal creaked as it shifted under her weight, her eyes wandered across the courtyard for someone she recognised, Chloe was leaning against one of the classroom walls inspecting her nails she seemed pleased with her self, what about Marinette didn't know, she could see some of the competitors off near the locker room but she couldn't see Adrien, Maybe he hasn't arrived yet... She pulled out her phone to try and pass the time, scrolling through social media.

 

Her phone buzzed in her hand, a notification popped up at the top of her screen.

 

 

* * *

 

**Adrien;**   _How long have you been here?_

 

* * *

 

She smiled before typing back her response.

 

* * *

 

** Adrien **

 

_How long have you been here?_

 

Not long, I actually thought I was late.

 

_They pushed the time back an hour_

_one of the officials was stuck in traffic_

 

That... Kinda sucks

you had plans after this right?

with Nino?

 

_yeah_

_he understands that stuff like this happens_

_I would come out and talk but..._

 

Chloe

 

_Yep_

 

She's still upset?

 

_not really_

_just..._

_more clingy_

 

good lcuk with trying to dodge her

Luck*

 

_I most definitely need that_

 

Adrien?

 

_Yeah?_

 

Why did you only invite me

 

_you had taken an interest before_

_Nino, he likes to hear about my hobbies but_

_I can tell that he would be bored_

_And Alya..._

_It didn't cross my mind to ask her_

 

Oh...

 

_was I wrong to ask?_

 

No...

No that's

fine

I was just curious

I'm glad you asked

 

_are you sure_

 

yes

I am

I... uhh... don't know the competing order,

 

_they should announce the order at the start_

_we have to draw straws_

 

Ahh the good old fashioned drawing straws method

 

_yeah,_

_the comp should start in the next five minutes_

 

I would give you my favour to wear but I seemed to have left it at home

 

_how_

_how clumsy of you_

 

I know

it's a horrible habit 

and one that no matter how hard I try

I cannot seem to break it

 

_maybe one day you will_

 

thank you for the hope

so what do you think your chances of winning are?

 

_Well..._

_I'm not an underdog_

_and I am the best in the class but_

_the students from the other classes_

_I'm not sure_

_so I would say..._

_50/50_

 

wow no confidence

 

_hey!_

_I am just_

_thinking realistically_

 

Sure...

 

_Mari!!!_

 

* * *

 

She could practically hear the whiney tone in his voice, her cheeks were starting to grow sore from the smile across her face.

 

She glanced around to see the seats around her were being filled. She quickly sent him a text before slipping her phone back into her purse.

 

 

* * *

 

**Marinette;** _Good Luck Adrien!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Valentine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: All links to poems can be found at the end

February 1st, the start of a new month and the last of winter, the snow had melted away living any trace of the white Christmas she experienced at the start of the winter months.

 

She stepped out of the warm bakery, her home into the cold morning air, she couldn’t wait until spring when the morning air warmed up enough to where she didn’t have to be bundled up in a million layers just to head to her high school that sat just across the street, she tugged at her pastel pink scarf wrapping it tighter around her neck trying to keep the morning frost at bay, her feet stomped heavily up the concrete steps towards the large green wooden gate, she could still smell the fresh bread pouring out of the smokestacks of the bakery as she got further into the school, then again she could always smell home reminding her that it was never was far away.

 

The courtyard was crowded with other students, it was suffocating, she never really liked crowds it was a fear she developed at a young age when she lost her Parents at Mall during Christmas, it had left her scared for a significantly long time terrified to step out into public area’s in case it happened again. She bobbed and weaved around the courtyard heading towards the locker room, she needed to grab a few books before class, she hoped Alya was already waiting for her, the two had some homework to go over before their morning classes began, Marinette had been silly had left it to the last minute for the 800th time. 

 

The locker room was practically empty, only a handful of students remained, she quickly pushed aside her fears and went to her locker, her mind was elsewhere and didn’t register the white envelope sitting neatly on the top shelf, it was only when she needed to grab her Science book and accidentally knocked it off. She placed her books down and gently picked it off the floor, reading her name written carefully on the envelope, she gently opened it, a single white card sat inside, there was no fancy design on the front so it wasn’t store bought, it was just… white. She opened it reading and rereading the words written on the card stock, the words had been written in the most careful handwriting as if the author had spent hours beforehand practising making sure not a letter was out of place.

 

* * *

 

_I can’t say I love you. But it’s hidden deep inside of me._

_I can’t say I need you. But it hurts every time you leave me._

_I wish that I could express what really is true._

_More and more I find myself hiding the way I feel for you._

_A thousand words cannot be written in a single card so 13 more shall follow leading to one special day…_

_\- Your secret Valentine_

* * *

 

A poem, predictable but it was cute, she placed the card back in the envelope and picked up her books, she needed to speak to Alya. She tripped up the stairs several times trying to get to class before the bell, she had a good thing going for the past week and a half, she had been on time for almost all of her classes and she was cutting it close, the letter had thrown her timing off, she barreled into the classroom meer seconds before the bell.

 

“And she’s safe!” Alya cheered as Marinette made her way over to her old seat.

 

“Sorry Nino, I need my old spot back for this morning, you can have Adrien for this morning, Thanks!”

 

Nino barely had time to protest when Marinette sat down in the wooden seat, he let out a sigh and reluctantly sat down in her seat, grumbling something beyond her hearing.

 

“What's this about?” Alya whispered, careful not to tip Miss Bustier off to their conversation.

 

Marinette opened her French Literature book sliding Alya the Envelope.

 

“Read,” she whispered back.

 

She watched out of the corner of her eye as her friend opened the card, silently reading the words on the page.

 

“Secret Admirer?”

 

“Seems like it…”

 

“We are so finding out who they are.”

 

“There are over 100 people in this school.”

 

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

 

“It will take forever to find out who.”

 

“Luckily your admirer is planing 13 more notes.”

 

Marinette didn’t know how to respond so she stayed silent focused on the chalkboard.

 

——====+====——

 

“He likes you…”

 

“What?”

 

“He likes you.” Kagami said again in a much clearer voice, “You didn’t know?”

 

Marinette stared back at Him then at the anonymous Valentine’s letter in her hands, Marinette had suspected that the letter had been written by someone she knew but she never suspected it was Adrien, she opened it rereading the words carefully written on the page.

 

The words had been committed to her memory, they weren’t originally a quick google search proved that but it didn’t demean the emotions they were trying to convey. She studied the cursive handwriting, it didn’t seem like Adrien’s, his was messy so he could get his idea’s and thoughts out quickly and he normally didn’t write in cursive but that didn’t mean he didn’t write it, she wasn’t a handwriting expert its just she had never seen it so… neat and she couldn’t get past it.

 

“He mentioned liking someone,” Kagami continued, “I didn’t think… I thought he was just saying it to be kind, It didn’t cross my mind that he was being honest.”

 

Marinette looked up over to her, a single tear slowly fell down her cheek before a determined look spread across her face.

 

“Why does he like you?”

 

“I… I…”

 

“What makes you better?” Kagami was almost yelling, “Why does he find you more interesting more than me.”

 

“I… I don’t know. I really don’t know…”

 

“He’ll be mine…” Kagami angrily muttered before storming off.

 

Marinette stood in place still in shock at the outburst. Her eyes stayed focus on the door Kagami had left through, her mind replaying everything she had said.

 

“Marinette?”

 

She looked up at him, his face was full of concern, “Adrien…”

 

“Are you okay? Kagami she seemed-“

 

“Angry?”

 

“Yeah,” he motioned to sit down next to her, Marinette nodded her head, “Did you want to talk about it?”

 

“You probably should ask her,” she snapped back.

 

“I…”

 

“It’s okay, just a little in shock at her outburst, sorry.”

 

“What was it about?”

 

“This silly little card,” she said trying to downplay it, “she thought you wrote it but stormed off before I could tell her that it didn’t match your handwriting.”

 

She watched his face, watching for something to tell her she was right and Kagami was wrong, but it gave nothing away as he looked down at the card.

 

“May I?” he asked reaching for the card.

 

She shrugged, “Sure,” and handed the small white rectangle card over to him.

 

He carefully inspected the letter, he mouthed the words as he read, she was now pretty sure he wasn’t the one who placed it in her locker that morning.

 

“Hmm… I don’t know, Good luck trying to find out who,” he handed her back the card.

 

——====+====——

 

Saturday and Sunday weekends, her favourite days of the week, days to relax, to design and to spend time with her parents. She was a little surprised not to see two cardboard letters show up on her doorstep, she was disheartened, she was actually looking forward to the little notes with the silly little poems so when Sunday came to an end she reluctantly sent Alya a text.

 

-_-_-_-

 

**A+ Blogger**

 

No sign of Secret

Maybe he’s given up

 

That sucks

I was rooting for him

 

you seem to have miss placed your trust Al

he was probably just going to lead me on…

bet he didn’t think 13 days in advance

 

-_-_-_-

 

 

Marinette slowly walked into school heading towards her locker to dump her extra layers and spare books, lunch was a boring affair she was about ready to turn and walk back home, her locker door squeaked as she opened it, her eyes fell upon a single white envelope, maybe she was wrong maybe this guy was more determined than she thought, she inspected the envelope again, her name neatly written on the front again it was slightly different, handwritten. She opened it, the same rectangular letter, but different words. She read them again, the words singsonged in her head, she knew what was happening, she was falling but she couldn’t be, she loved Chat, how could she fall for random letters on rectangular pieces of paper.

* * *

 

    

_You have come into my life_

_And it changed with a blink of an eye_

_You have blown the roof_

_To let me see the blue sky._

_I can praise you for a whole day_

_But my love for you so great_

_That I need many days to say._

_You could be the one,_

_the one I’ll stay with till I die._

_You are the greatest in every way,_

_and I’m not telling a lie._

_Out of every person in the world,_

_you are the best._

_In every location on the planet,_

_from the North East South and West._

_You are so beautiful,_

_even from afar,_

_please stay the same,_

_you’re perfect just the way you are._

_I love your laugh and your smile._

_While your voice is all I ask for,_

_It can make me so happy to hear._

_You’re simply everything I adore._

_There’s nothing I would change._

_You’re just perfect for me too._

_I do not see any flaws._

_There’s nothing left for me to do._

_Three poems for you to make up for the weekend_

_-Your Secret Valentine_

* * *

 

 

She slowly pushed the paper back in the white envelope and let out a sigh, she needed to get her thoughts together and school was most defiantly not the place for that she turned to leave but collided with a body.

 

“Oh no, I’m… So sorry,” she fell to her knees to pick up the books they had dropped.

 

“Marinette it’s fine.”

 

She looked up and a wave of relief washed over her, “Adrien… I didn’t realise it was you, sorry, I should have been looking.”

 

“It's okay I’m used to you crashing into my life.”

 

“Very funny, I… I have to go.”

 

“But class,” he protested.

 

“I… I just need to go.”

 

She waved goodbye and headed to the nearest secluded area to transform, the red spotted suit was covering her body in seconds, she leapt onto the nearest rooftop and ran, she tried to stick to shadows, she didn’t want to cause panic among the streets below. Her mind ran over the words on the paper again and then over everything she loved about her partner, she had plans for valentines day, but the small voice in her head asked her if she was going to follow through with it if she was brave enough to tell him how she felt. The person, her secret admirer was telling her even if… she laughed, he was braver than she was, she was pretty sure it was a boy but to be honest she wasn’t sure. Their words rang in her head, "I can’t say I love you. But it’s hidden deep inside of me,” the words that had started her down this rocky path, who were they and how had they managed such an impossible feat in such a small about of time with such little effort, many had tried before, the simple little Valentine’s card, she had had several appear in her locker over the years, each with their own cheesy pickup line or poem, none of them were original and usually gave themselves away in a matter of hours, this one… puzzled her. They were playing it close to their chest not letting anything away.

 

* * *

 

 

Wooing her, this was stage one of his plan, then… then slowly tell her about himself, and by the end she would have 14 letters, 14 letters that would tell her exactly how he felt, she had almost caught him on day one, he panicked, he was afraid to admit it so he had hidden for two days unsure of his plans, missing some important steps in his plans but he could quickly adjust, it was easy to make it seem like it was actually part of the plan it just meant some things had to be shifted around. 

 

Kagami had thrown him for a loop, he hadn’t known she had felt that way about him, keeping it hidden just like Chloe. Marinette had blinded him to the other girls around him, he failed to noticed blushed kissed checks thinking that it was just the makeup or the instructor pushing them a little too far never that they liked him more than a friend, he felt horrible… Kagami was a friend, a good one at that, although he didn’t really know much about her, she was good at fencing, she had a lot of pressure from her family to succeed, he knew little about her family, only having met her mother briefly. Maybe it was the rose he gave her a while ago when he had felt lost and confused around Marinette. 

 

And here he was again circling back around to Marinette. He was saddened that he wasn’t a poet using others to author his feelings towards her, it felt like a cop out, that he wasn’t being 100% honest but he and Plagg agreed that the horrible attempts of original poetry that now sat hidden among his other books upstairs should remain confined to the pages they had first been written on and he should never try poetry again, Plagg had made it clear that if he had to read another word of Adrien’s failed attempts that the small Kwami wouldn’t hesitate to destroy half of Paris. Adrien had saved pages upon pages of other poets works, it was hard to narrow them down into 14 letters, they all said what he wanted to tell her, he tried to avoid the longer ones, his calligraphy practice wouldn’t hold out for that long, his fingers hurt only after a few words but it was all worth it for her, his sweet Marinette. He stared back at the slowly flowering Rose, the florist had assured him it would bloom on Valentine’s day, it wasn’t a red rose but a delicate pink, the colour had caught his eye when he passed it on the street, it now sat among two other roses, red and white, love and purity, they were in bloom and would reach full in a few days. A poem had caught his eye, it had led him to buy them adding them into his ever-growing plan, he couldn’t help but wonder over to them breathing in their sweet scent, he had forgotten how many times he had done so. He stared back at the slowly flowering Rose, the florist had assured him it would bloom on Valentine’s day, it wasn’t a red rose nor a pink, the colour had caught his eye when he passed it on the street, it sat among two other roses, red and pink, love and friendship, they were in bloom and would reach full in a few days. A poem had caught his eye, it had led him to buy them adding them into his ever-growing plan, he couldn’t help but wonder over to them breathing in their sweet scent, he had forgotten how many times he had done so. 

 

He returned back to his computer with a heavy heart, he needed to narrow down what poem he was going to use for tomorrow.

 

 

* * *

 

There it sat, her white envelope waiting to be opened, she almost tore it out of the envelope.

* * *

 

_If I Thought_

_If I thought for just one moment that this would be my last breath,_

_I'd tell you I'll love you forever, even beyond death._

_If I thought for just one moment that your face would be the last I'd see,_

_I'd take a million pictures and save them just for me._

_If I thought for just one moment that your voice would be the last I'd hear,_

_I'd listen attentively and promise not to shed a tear._

_If I thought for just one moment that your touch would be the last I'd feel,_

_I'd embrace you and know that this has all been real._

_If I thought for just one moment that my heart would beat its last beat,_

_I'd thank the Lord for allowing us to meet_

_-Dana Schwartz_

_You’ve probably figured that the words I use aren’t my own, I tried to write an original for you but it couldn’t compare_

_-Your Secret Valentine_

* * *

 

She pressed her back on the locker next to her's as she read.

 

“Lover boy’s still keeping the charade?” Alya asked.

 

Marinette nodded her head as she continued to read.

 

“So you’re really going to get 14 of these?”

 

“I guess so…”

 

“Let me see.”

 

Marinette handed her the rectangle card.

 

“Loverboy has it bad.”

 

There was no denying it the boy really did have it bad, Marinette almost felt sorry about being in love with Chat, and even more so as she returned to her locker each day to find a new letter within, Alya had lamented to her that her investigation into the boy had dried up with absolutely no information to aid her, but still the small white envelopes came, sometimes they would be there in the morning waiting for her before class, somedays it would show up after lunch others she would have to wait until the end of the day to read. The 14th was approaching quick it was 4 days away, Marinette had 10 envelopes safely tucked away in her diary at home and she was patiently waiting for number 11 to join them, she opened her locker and spied it sitting neatly in her messy locker, it was the first thing she grabbed not caring about the books she would need for class and opened it.

* * *

 

I have heard your request but that comes at a cost: losing one poem that I had reserved for you…

 

‘His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.’

-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

 

This poem tells you two things about me but can you guess what?

-Your secret Valentine

* * *

 

Her eyes grew wide as she raced off to find Alya, calling her name in the bricked hallways.

 

“Alya!”

 

“Woah, calm down.”

 

Marinette pushed the card into her best friends hand.

 

“Read,” she commanded and her friend obliged.

 

“Well, this most certainly helps… How many days-“

 

“4, you have 4.”

 

“That's all the time I need,” Alya replied snapping a photo of the card before handing it back to Marinette.

 

Her best friend had purposely left her out on her plans to find who was leaving the cards as to not ruin the fun for her, Marinette didn’t want to know who was behind the cards unless they wanted her to but it didn’t stop her curiosity, occasionally listening in to some of Alya’s theories none of them helped much as she seemed to throw things at the wall to see if they would stick. Marinette didn’t have to commit this poem to memory, she had loved the Harry Potter books when she was younger, Ginny had written it about Harry however there was still the question of why this was today's poem, "This poem tells you two things about me but can you guess what?” Two things, it wouldn’t be the simple Black hair and Green eyes, although one of the features could be, but the second… She highly doubted it was the divine part everything so far had indicated that he wasn’t narcissistic and the last line was completely out of the question, so that left the ones above, just two little lines that gave almost nothing away.

 

The puzzle had stuck with her all day she stared down at the card exhaustedly, theories had come and all had been debunked, her copy of chamber of secrets sat on her desk, the poem was on page 178 but the number had no meaning behind it, she let out a frustrated groan and hit her head against her desk.

 

“Maybe you’re looking too far into it Marinette,” The Red Kwami softly offered.

 

“So he’s trying to tell me he likes Harry Potter, everyone likes Harry Potter,” she responded bluntly.

 

“And quite a lot of people have black hair or green eyes, he didn’t say anything about it being groundbreaking,” Tikki snapped back sarcastically.

 

“Sorry Tikki…”

 

“I understand. Are you going to do anything for Chat on Valentine's day?” She asked changing the subject.

 

“Maybe, I’m… Still a little unsure Tikki.”

 

“Just follow your heart it’ll lead you down the right path.”

 

She smiled at her Kwami, “Thank you Tikki. You always know what to say,"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Be continued tomorrow
> 
>  
> 
> If I Thought - Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/if-i-thought  
> Other Poems - Source: https://sweetytextmessages.com/romantic-love-poems-for-her
> 
> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Love Rivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poems at the end...

Valentines Day, The day he had been patiently waiting for, the day he had planned for, he would wait until lunch to slip the roses and note into her locker, most people would hand out their cards before lunch leaving his the last to arrive, he wouldn’t have to worry about someone else pushing a card through the small metal grates knocking over his little set up, there was still a slim chance it may happen but the odds were in his favour, his last 4 notes gave her little hints about himself, he hoped yesterday’s note would narrow down her list but keep her guessing long enough until after lunch for her to see the final note. It had taken him several hours to get the black ink from his fingers and he had to rewrite it several times because it wasn’t perfect, it was the last letter, the envelope was larger, it was go big or go home at this point, he took one final look at the words before pushing it into the prepared envelope, he had stolen his father’s wax seal kit several weeks before and purchased some pastel pink wax to go with it, he carefully lit the tea light and held the wax over it watching it slowly melt, then he poured the wax onto the page and pressed down with the stamp, his family crest was firmly imprinted into the now dry wax only just visible in the morning sunlight. He took extra care when placing the pink rose in the strong tin metal box, he needed to keep it hidden until he could deliver it.

 

* * *

 

Marinette was unsure, Thursday, February 14th or more commonly known as Valentine’s Day, the last letter would arrive today, his hints hadn’t been helpful at narrowing who he was and she really didn’t know if she was going to go ahead with the plans she had tried to make for Chat and her. Her heart had left her confused, she wanted to get to know the boy who had managed to sweep her off her feet with loving and kind words of poems and telling her more and more about himself in the little notes he had left and the end, she lived now to see the little notes at the end of the poems to find out more about her secret Valentine, but the other was still tightly pulling her towards her partner, the sweet kind boy who even though she stuttered never pushed her to finish her sentences faster, he waited, never interrupting her. Chat was more than kind to her, he had put himself in more danger than he should have on more than one occasion, they were the only times she had to restrain herself from ever striking him for his foolishness, she wanted to kick and scream and tell him that he couldn’t be doing such dangerous stunts without thinking what it would do to her, how she hated seeing even the smallest of cuts across his pale face, but her Partner was interested in another, it didn’t stop her from trying though. Marinette collapse back into bed today was probably the toughest day of her life, how would she choose between the two.

 

* * *

 

The Black hair with blue frosted tips, Luka Coffine, she just had to bump into him, she really wanted to get to her locker to see if Day 14 had arrived.

 

“Hey Marinette, It’s nice to see you,” he wasted no time skipping the small talk, “Look I was wondering if you would like to watch a movie with me sometime, it’ll be great just the two of us…”

 

The way the sentence trailed off unnerved her a little, but Luka… She never knew he liked her, was he the one leaving the letters in her locker, he had been hanging around it lately roughly around when they would appear but Julika’s locker as nearby so he could have been waiting for her.  He had black hair matching one of her hints and the others seemed to fit him, she would have to file that one away for later right now she had to be kind and sweet Marinette not ‘I’m trying to find out who’s been leaving me letters for the past 13 days and you might be him,’ Marinette. So she smiled told him that she was unfortunately busy with her parents with a non-existent wedding that needed an absurd number of baked goods and that she wouldn’t be available for the next few days.

 

“That’s too bad maybe some other time than?”

 

She nodded her head and said goodbye continuing to her locker only to be greeted with disappointment, No day 14 yet, she grabbed hold of the books she needed and headed up towards class.

 

* * *

 

No, No, No. How could he have been that silly, of course, Luka liked her that's why he was asking questions about her, Adrien wanted nothing more than to go back in time and slap his younger self, and the clues… He would fit the clues he had left behind for her, Sport - rowing, Plays and instrument - Guitar, Likes Jagged stone, has Black hair or green eyes, O God, his plan was falling apart, he needed to fix it. No… No… The letter, The letter, he had to deliver the letter and rose before lunch, it was the last step, he didn’t have to worry about the other guys, he had seen Nathaniel try to slip his card into her locker just before class, just because Luka hadn’t played his cards yet didn’t mean his plan was ruined, he had time to fix the new creases in the silk cloth, they just had to be ironed out a little that's all. ‘You can fix this Adrien,’ he needed to stay positive just because there were other rivals and one or two he didn’t count on didn’t mean he wouldn’t come out on top today.

 

* * *

 

Nathaniel, he was a shy artist, someone Marinette didn’t talk to much because he turned practically turned into her when she is around her partner but that was beside the point, she had seen him with a white envelope this morning and hers had yet to be delivered, she went over the clues in her head and the poems they had come with.

 

  * Black hair or green eyes,

  * Enjoy’s harry potter, (the poem would suggest a book reader)

  * He plays an instrument,

  * Participates in extra activities sport, (which one she did not one)

  * Listens to Jagged Stone enough to know his more obscure songs,

  * Neat handwriting, although it could be practised

  * And somehow knows her locker combo but nobody has seen anyone open or shut her locker but herself.




 

Nathaniel didn’t exactly match up to this list, so it was a no… but she didn’t know him that well maybe he did do all that stuff in his spare time.

 

-=======+=========-

 

Marinette lazily opened her locker, she was actively listening to the story Alix was currently telling and didn’t notice the envelope.

 

“So there I was-“

 

“Marinette!” her Kwami urgently whispered, “The Letter!”

 

She looked over, a Pale pink rose sat in her locker a bow had been tied to the stem in the same colour she gently lifted it out of her locker, the stem had no trace of any thorns as if they had been carefully taken off, she brought it to her nose breathing in the sweet aroma before setting it back down to read her final letter, her friends were now the furthest thing from her mind

 

* * *

 

A Pink rose is for the one,

Where love has blossomed and bloomed,

Where passion and purity,

With love and peace,

Combines and grows,

That brings forth the Pink rose,

 

Of the Red rose,

And of the White Rose,

When both entwine,

Comes the Pink rose,

For all the blushing brides,

 

When the proposal is asked,

With the Pink rose as a sign,

Is one asking another,

In love and loves first

Red and White,

That all will show,

And carry a wedding bouquet,

Are all the Blushing brides to be,

 

For the Pink rose if for the one,

Where love has blossomed and bloomed,

Representing passion and purity,

That has love and peace,

Combining and growing,

 

From two different in colour,

One extreme to another,

From the Red and the White,

That combine,

And show true love,

A Pink rose evolves,

Showing true love,

 

It shows in its splendour of Pink,

For the blushing bride to be,

So to say,

'I do',

When the question is popped,

On this Valentines Day,

 

Valentine's Day,

A day of proposals,

Where it is asked,

From one to another,

'Will you be mine',

From this Valentine's Day,

On to,

The next,

And,

The next,

And,

Thereafter.

 

-Ellen Ni Bheachain

 

By now Princess I hope you know who I am, I’ve tried for a very long time to tell you how I feel none of these attempts never seemed to work, so I tried a different approach. The brazen pickup lines, at first I thought they were working but I quickly realised that they made me come off as less genuine as if I thought this was a game. Marinette I… I Have loved you since we stood out in that rainstorm and the umbrella closed around you, you were the first person to make me laugh in a very long time and it was effortless, I soon found a lot more to love, too many to count, my heart at times feels as if its going to leap out of my chest and run a marathon when I’m around you and I understand… I understand if you don’t feel the same way but I had to tell you, I couldn’t keep this hidden anymore, so please don’t keep me waiting, whether its returned feelings or heartbreak I face I need to know so please find me with haste Princess it has been a painful 14 days…

 

-Your Secret Valentine, Adrien Agreste

 

* * *

 

She had to go, screw plans with Alya and everyone else she... she had to go, she had to go see her Chaton, he probably assumed she had forgotten the nickname he had given her on her rooftop and… no she could think about this later she could think about how her partner had been sitting next to her for nearly over 3 weeks now and how blind she was, she just needed to go, she grabbed her purse and took of towards the little red dot on her map, her best friend yelled but she ignored her, she ran, she ran faster than she thought she ever had her excitement pushing her over the edge, her heart had been torn between two and they were now one, they weren’t competing against each other for her heart, she didn’t have to choose which one she wanted more, in a few short minutes she saw the outline of the Saint Lazare Train Station, the clock sitting in the centre screaming the time at her reminding her he was waiting.

 

A flash went off inside the building and she saw him, “Adrien!” She pushed her legs to go further and faster, she needed them to go faster, “Adrien!” Why did his latest photoshop have to be here, a busy crowded train station, she kept pushing herself to go faster, “Adrien!” she yelled again she could hear her own desperation in her voice.

 

The blond mop of hair she had been following disappeared into the crowd of people, he didn’t seem to have heard her panicked cries for him. She started to hyperventilate her excitement was now gone, the crowd grew larger and larger around her, men and women hurried past trying to get to their train or work, she sunk to the floor cradling her head in her lap trying to remember the phrase she used to say in her head to calm herself down. She rocked back and forth, she needed to remain calm so her mind did the first thing it could, sing. She hummed a tune she couldn’t remember where it had come from only that it was bringing her comfort. Her ears were ringing, she couldn’t hear anything but her humming, the sound of the feet around her was non-existent to her ears, she was being swallowed, she couldn’t breathe, she needed to get out, she needed… she needed...

 

“Marinette… Marinette, shhh, I’m here, shh, princess, I’m here.”

 

His voice slowly faded in through her thoughts, his arms wrapped around her slim frame and lifted her up and out of the suffocating crowd, she clung tightly to him afraid to let go afraid to go back to the fast-moving crowd. He continued to whisper his soothing words calming her even more than the freedom of the crowd.

 

When her mind fog cleared, she was sitting on a park bench, she could hear the birds in the giant oak tree branches above her chirping away, there was the distant sound of the city but they weren’t close, the green Kikuyu grass tickled her feet, a soft breeze flowed through her hair, it had been released from the twin tails it normally sat in.

 

“Adrien?”

 

“You okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah… Crowds, they…”

 

“You don’t have to tell me.”

 

She ignored his words, “I lost you in the crowd and I couldn’t catch up and I- I-“

 

“It’s okay Mari,” he gently placed his hand on top of hers, “take your time.”

 

“I haven’t had a panic attack in years, I guess I was a little unprepared.”

 

“Marinette I was wondering and I know now isn’t the time but I-“

 

“Yes, yes to whatever you are about to ask because you didn’t have to use all those poems or use someone else’s words, what you said at the end of the letter was enough Adrien.”

 

“You didn’t see the notebook.”

 

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to see it then.”

 

The two sat in silence for a while, unsure of what to say to each other as the blue sky turned into one of shades of orange and pink.

 

“I never took any of your flirting seriously,” she had had little time to reflect.

 

“It was worth it."

 

“Even…” She took a deep breath, "After all this time?” she brought the pink rose up to her nose breathing in the sweet scent, she allowed him to lead her down the street towards her home.

 

"Always,” he replied with a smirk.

 

He face changed in an instant as she realised what it was from, “Adrien Agreste don’t you dare quote Harry Potter at me,” She yelled angerly swatting his shoulder if she had had her sketchbook she surely would have thrown it at him and him giggling like a school girl only made it worse, “Stop Laughing!” she yelled through her own giggles, why did his laughter have to be contagious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poem - https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-pink-rose-3/
> 
> AN: if this sounds a little stalkerish I wrote this while watching You on Netflix. Note to self choose something less… creepy to watch while writing.
> 
> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters today...

The Beach was a horrible place to go in the winter months, but the warm air and the promise of spring had drawn the group out of their warm homes to the sandy salt shores.

 

Marinette lazied on her beach towel, her hand ran through the cold surface of the sand, she had fished out a few perils from her sketchbook and had started sketching the landscape but had quickly grown bored of it, she was stuck on dry land because of the incredibly bulky cast of her left arm, she couldn’t wait until she could have it off, her doctor said it would be several more weeks until she was able to be free of the fibreglass prison. She observed from a distance as her friends splashed around in the salt water, they seemed to be having the time of their lives, Adrien and Nino had ganged up against Alya trying their best to try and get the girl further into the what she assumed was the icy waters.

 

“Marinette? Are you sure it’s a good idea to come this far, we’re almost two hours away from Paris.”

 

“Tikki we’ll be fine and besides I already asked Master Fu, he said the likelihood of an Akuma to strike in the few hours that we are away would be most unlikely.”

 

“I still think we should have stayed in Paris,” the red Kwami replied bitterly.

 

“Why? Don’t you like the beach?”

 

“No, I hate it, there is nothing to do, no flowers to smell and the only birds are those annoying seagulls, it’s devoid of any… life.”

 

“Tikki?”

 

“I thought I had seen enough sand for a lifetime in Egypt, Can we head home or at least somewhere with grass.”

 

“Tikki, I want to spend time with my friends If you deal with the sand for say… 3 hours-“

 

“3 Hours!”

 

“3 Hours,” she repeated, “I’ll bake you that vanilla cake you like so much.”

 

Tikki paused, “Why do you have to be so kind Marinette.”

 

“It’s just in my nature, now could you sit down on the towel for me, maybe if you describe your time in Egypt to me it might help pass the time a bit more.”

 

“Okay!” she replied cheerfully, “There was this dark… evil warlock and he was causing a lot of trouble, he had brainwashed people to be his servants-“

 

Marinette listened half-heartedly to Tikki’s story as she watched her friends slash about at the water's edge, she sketched a bit listening to the way Tikki had described the clothes gaining a little inspiration to continue her landscape sketch, the sun roses higher and higher in the sky above, it was almost mid-day, her stomach growled in protest declaring to the world it wanted food.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“What brings you up to dry land?”

 

“I thought I saw you talking to someone…”

 

“I’ve been sketching, I talk myself when I sketch sometimes.”

 

“Must be lonely.”

 

“I’m fine Adrien.”

 

“Are we going to talk about Thursday?”

 

Marinette had intentionally put off talking about what had happened as she was unsure of what to say to him. She had spent the entire Thursday night screaming into a pillow then she summoned all of her courage to met him for patrol, once that was over she returned to her bed and continued to scream into her pillow. Her confidence had been shattered overnight and had simultaneously been built up, she stuttered occasionally around him but she was now talking like she normally did in and out of the suit, she had even forgotten at times that he didn’t know who she was under her mask.

 

“I… Uh… I want to talk about it but… I don’t know where to start.”

 

“Well…” he said, “How about we build a sand castle and talk about it while building.”

 

“My cast, I can’t-“

 

“Just don’t stick it in the sand then,” he said with a shrug.

 

“Okay,” she sounded unsure but slowly followed him off of her beach towel towards the shore, “The water-“

 

“Won’t come in that far, trust me.”

 

“Fine…”

 

“So,” he pushed a pile of sand up for Marinette to shape with her right arm, “we’ll start with my burning question, do you like me?”

 

She kept her gaze off the sand slowly shaping it into a tall tower, she looked up at him for half a second and smiled, “yes,” a blush spread lightly across her cheeks.

 

“That's good, I’d be incredibly heartbroken if that was a no.”

 

“You’d live.”

 

“For a while, now second question… did you want to go on a date?”

 

“No,” she stated honestly, “I think we should stay friends for a little bit, I need some time to-“

 

“Hey, it's okay, I kinda understand…”

 

She gave him a thankful smile, “I want to ask you something.”

 

“Okay,” he pushed more sand into a pile to start building the walls to their sand castle.

 

“Why have you been sleeping on my balcony?”

 

He froze.

 

“There’s only ever been one person that has called me princess and he too has bled hair and green eyes so it wasn’t a hard leap.”

 

“I…”

 

“Just tell me why.”

 

“I haven’t been sleeping at home and-“ he took a deep breath, his hands shaped the wall into one of a more rectangular one, “and I’ve found that I sleep better… near… you…”

 

“You’re more than welcome to sleep inside you know.”

 

“Are-“

 

“I’m sure, now your question.”

 

“Will you tell Alya about-“

 

“No,” she had stopped building her tall tower, “I won’t tell Alya, I know my best friend better than anyone and there is no way I would tell her.”

 

He smiled at her, “Thank you,” he sounded relieved.

 

“It’s not a problem, let's build this sand castle.”

 

—————

 

Marinette slowly got out of the car, sand falling from her clothing out on to the concrete pavement. Adrien shuffled over to sit in the spot she had just been sitting in, the electric motor of the car window retracted the window down so he could stick his head out to talk to her, she could still see sand stuck within his blond locks, she could tell his father was going to be extremely unhappy with the state he was currently in but that's what happens when you request your friends to bury your body in the sand. The waves had reached a little higher and their sand castle was pulled out to sea, she was saddened at the sight but Adrien quickly cheered her up.

 

“I had fun today, spending time with you made being trapped on land more enjoyable.” It was true she had envisioned herself stuck on land, her swami and sketchbook being her only company.

 

“I… I enjoyed today as well, maybe we should do it again sometime… As friends of course.”

 

“Well thank you for the ride back, I’ll bring you some cookies tomorrow.”

 

“You don’t have to.”

 

“I want to.”

 

“Okay… Goodbye Marinette,” he waved goodbye through the open car window, the grey car slowly pulled away from the curb, she continued to wave until the car had disappeared from her sight.

 

“I’m happy for you Marinette and even if I had to pretend to hate sand for a day.”

 

“You what?”

 

“It was the only way I thought you two would talk, sorry, I was tired of you two walking on eggshells around each other.”

 

“I guess I should thank you then.”

 

“That vanilla cake will do just fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Confession

“Adrien… I have something to tell you, I stuttered around you so much in the suit because I kinda had this massive crush…”

 

She let out a groan in frustration, it didn’t sound right.

 

“That one was okay Marinette,” her Kwami

 

“I know it's just- it's it didn’t seem genuine.”

 

“I’m sure Adrien won’t think that way.”

 

Marinette flopped down on her chaise, “Yeah but maybe he will.”

 

“Marinette you have to stop thinking that way, he loves you.”

 

“I know.”

 

“So what are you worrying about?”

 

“Everything and anything.”

 

The Alarm on her phone echoed out, signalling that it was time for her to meet the blond haired boy for their school assignment, the two just so happened to be paired together but she knew that Alya had been the mastermind of this one. She packed up her bag throwing her sketchbook, Laptop and a number of pens and pencils into it, she headed downstairs grabbing an assortment of sweets and a single bag of the chocolate croissants, Marinette waved goodbye to her parents and headed towards the large Mansion.

 

Marinette looked over the large iron gates that inclosed the large Mansion, she hated the sight of them, she never questioned why Adrien loved to spend time at her small home after she saw the house for the first time, the house emanated ‘Cold’, The cream exterior walls was a poor attempt to make the house seem inviting. 

 

Marinette summoned her courage and rang the doorbell, Natalie’s monotoned voice answered the buzzing, “Hello?”

 

Marinette felt like she was shaking, “I… I uh… It’s Marinette, I’m here to see Adrien.”

 

“Mr Agreste isn’t here, you’ll have to come back later.”

 

With that she ended the call, Marinette rolled her eyes and sent a quick message to Adrien.

 

* * *

 

Natalie isn’t letting me in again.

 

_You say your Name?_

 

Yep

I swear she hates me

 

_She hates everybody_

_If she shows any emotion I fear she may die_

 

You gonna let me in?

 

_OMW_

_Sit tight_

 

It’s a street Adrien

where am I supposed to sit?

 

_It’s an English expression Mari._

 

Oh… 

Right, Sorry

 

_Don’t worry, It’s hard to keep track of some of them_

 

Right…

 

_Ring the doorbell again._

 

Why?

 

_Please_

 

Fine

 

* * *

 

Marinette did as she was told and rang the bell again, this time instead of Natalie’s voice the gate clicked open, she gave it a tentative push and it slowly swung open, she sent Adrien a quick thank you before heading inside, making sure the gate was properly shut behind her, she headed up the concrete steps to the wooden door, Adrien opened it before she could knock on it. She waved to Natalie before heading up the stairs behind Adrien.

 

“So…” he asked, “What should we do first?”

 

“What topic are we doing again?”

 

“The Effects of the revolution had on the people.”

 

“Right… I’m guessing research, obviously, did you want to start while I type it out?” she pulled her laptop out of her bag.

 

“Yeah, that’ll work.”

 

Marinette logged in and started a new google doc as per the requirements of the assignment.

 

“Right next three hours of work here we come,” Adrien said half-heartedly.

 

“Cheer up, I brought snacks.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette swirled around on the chair staring up at the ceiling, the planned study session had dissolved into madness, Marinette had started to go slightly insane as the two struggled to find more than two websites with the same information.

 

“Maybe we should try the library?” Adrien suggested.

 

Marinette looked at the time displayed in the bottom corner of the computer and shook her head, “It’s too late now, Library is closed.”

 

“That sucks…”

 

“Yeah, Maybe we should do something else for a bit cause we are just going around in circles.”

 

“Movie?”

 

She shrugged her shoulders, “sure, you pick.”

 

Adrien raced up the stairs to choose something to watch.

 

Marinette took a deep breath now might as well be the time to tell him.

 

“Adrien?”

 

“Hmmm,” he hummed in response.

 

“I have something to tell you something, I… Uh…”

 

“You seem to stutter a lot when you’re struggling to find a way to say something, don’t think, even if it comes out in half broken sentences.”

 

“I couldn’t say anything at the beach because Alya was hanging over our shoulders near the end but I…” she took a deep breath, “I’m Ladybug, I can easily prove it if you don’t believe me, I’ve been trying for several days to try and tell you but I…” her through train trailed off, “ I couldn’t keep it secret from you, it didn’t seem right that I would know who you were and not the other way around. I Like you… a lot Adrien, I had a massive crush on your superhero side for years, it’s why I stuttered over every word and I’m scared that if something changed I would lose you and I don’t want that,” she sighed, “I’m scared to move past just being friends…”

 

“It’s okay to be scared,” he said sitting down beside her, he seemed to be a little shocked by her words, “It’s kinda cute actually, that you care so much that you think I’ll suddenly hate you if something bad happens.”

 

She playfully pushed his shoulder, “But I won’t, we’ll work through anything, just give me a few minutes to process that I’ve been trying my best to keep you out of danger but you’ve been the one in the spotted suit beside me the entire time.”

 

“Sorry, Minou.”

 

“Nicknames? Already, Two can play at that game My Lady.”

 

“What movie did you pick?” she asked changing the subject.

 

“It’s a surprise, Bug.”

 

She huddled down on the lounge, pulling the throw blanket over herself an waited for the movie to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	18. Chapter Eighteen - In the Rain

Marinette face planted into the book that sat in front of her, the information that was stored in it had not transferred into her memory, there hours worth of research had in her eyes been wasted. She was frustrated with herself, she hated the fact that they hadn’t progressed in any direction, she groaned and tried to read the words on the page again but quickly gave up. A warm cup of coffee magically appeared in front of her, looking up she saw Adrien had returned, she mouthed him a quick thank you and almost downed half of it. He pulled the book she was trying and failing to memorise from her.

 

“This book is boring Mari”

 

“I know but we need the information it contains within its papery… pages…” she yawned and took another sip of the warm coffee.

 

“Maybe we should leave, you’re falling asleep here and I really don’t feel like carrying you home. Is this the only book we need?”

 

She shook her head and lifted the small stack that sat on the floor beside her onto the table, his eyes eye’s widened a little in surprise but pulled the stack towards him to look through them. Marinette stood up from the uncomfortable plastic chair to pack away her notebook and tablet, she struggled to fight back another yawn.

 

“I’ll go up and check these out, okay?”

 

She nodded her head, “I’ll pack away your things for you, It’ll take the librarian a bit to scan them through so I’ll meet you at the counter.”

 

“Okay,” he picked up the small but heavy stack and headed down the stairs to the checkout desk.

 

She watched him head down the steps before she headed over to his side and started to carefully pack the tablet, notebook and pencil case into the small over the shoulder bag. She threw on her own backpack before swinging his back onto her shoulder, she put the two coffee cups back into the cardboard travel tray and headed towards the front desk, the librarian as predicted was still scanning the books though, she was around their age and by the look of her, she was crushing hard on the blond model that was in front of her. Marinette paused to observe from a distance as Adrien tried to dismiss the girls poor attempts at flirting with him, unfortunately the girl didn’t seem to take no as an answer, Marinette shook her head and casually started to walk over to the two, she had gone through this all before when some of Adrien’s fangirls got a little too much for him at times but this time around she couldn’t shake the small amount of jealousy that was slowly rising and bubbling its way at her insides. She put on a smile as she got closer, she could now hear the extremely poor attempts the girl was making and Adrien started to look uncomfortable, this called for drastic action.

 

“Hey?” you ready?” she asked cutting through whatever the girl was saying, she casually draped her right arm over his shoulder sending the girl a clear and direct message ‘back off he’s mine,’ “We better hurry or we’ll miss that movie you promised,” she could feel the girl drilling angry holes into the back of Marinette’s skull.

 

He quickly caught on and nodded his head, “Right… Sorry Mari, I almost forgot,” he picked up the stack of books of the counter, the girl mumbled something under her breath beyond Marinette’s range of hearing as she scanned the last book though, Adrien went to take the book but Marinette beat him to it taking it from her, she murmured a quick thank you to the girl and heading towards the door before the girl could tell them the time frame the two had to return the books in.

 

The two stepped out into the dreary street, a blast of cold air hit the two causing Marinette to shiver, there was a distinct smell of rain in the air, “you okay?” she queried.

 

Adrien turned to her slipping his arm off of her shoulder, “I’m fine it’s just… she wouldn’t take no as answer,” he placed his bag on the ground to stuff the library books into it, “I really didn’t know how I was going to get out off that one,” he replied with a chuckle, “I guess I have to thank you for- for being you. Again.”

 

“It’s no problem. Hey, wait… where is my share of the books, I’m not going to let you do all the reading.”

 

“you’ve got one in your hands,” he replied indicating to the small book in her hands that she had taken from the librarian.

 

“Adrien…” she whined, “I have the right mind to hit you with it if you don’t hand me at least half of those,” she jokingly threatened.

 

“Sure, I’d like to see you try Marinette, you do have a broken arm after all.”

 

Marinette shot him an angry glare in response.

 

“Okay, Okay, turn around I’ll put a few in your bag.”

 

“Half,” she insisted.

 

“Alright, Alright, I’ll put half of them in for you,” he tugged on the zippers of her backpack opening it, she felt it grow heavier on her shoulders as he pilled more books into it, she handed him the book she was holding over her shoulder, he took it and placed it in he backpack with all the others.

 

“Thank you,” she replied.

 

“It’s no problem although we should probably head home as much as I would love to see a movie with you, I really don’t want another week of an overloaded schedule as punishment but maybe… maybe we can see that movie tomorrow?”

 

“Sure, we can see that one you keep posting in the group chat then.”

 

“Oh… Okay.”

 

His face had turned a light shade of red, Marinette let out a giggle, “I Love t when you get all flustered, you get all shy, it’s cute.”

 

“Mari, stop making fun of me,” he whined playfully, “besides, I’m just not used to you flirting back yet, that's all it is.”

 

“Sure,” she replied not completely believing his words, “Here,” she said handing him his cup from the cardboard carrier.

 

“I almost forgot about this.”

 

She smiled and removed her own from the carrier before tossing the small flimsy piece into the nearby bin, “Thank you for the coffee, I’ll pay you back when I get home.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, we were both falling asleep at that table.”

 

Adrien started heading down the steps and Marinette took that as her cue to follow, she was following closely behind him, white flashes of light lit up the dark grey skies above them, they both instinctively picked up their paces to try and beat the storm. Adrien’s pace was a lot faster than her’s she was struggling to keep up with him when a few drops of rain started to fall around them, those drops quickly became a steady flow, she squealed as the pouring rain started to soak through her clothes, Adrien slowed down enough to grab hold of her hand so she wouldn’t get left behind. They could see the looming structure of the school a few meters in front of them, they both seemed to have the same Idea as they ran for the tiny amount of shelter it provided, the two paused beneath the small shelter to catch their breaths and to wait out the storm. The storm grew heavier around them, it made loud clanks and bangs on the small tin roof above them cutting off any possibility of conversation between them, Marinette wanted to try and say something over it but everything she wanted to say died in her throat so she stood there hyperaware of the fact that they were still holding hands.

 

“I kinda wish I had brought an umbrella…” she only just heard him over the pattering on the tin roof.

 

“I have one,” she practically yelled, “It’s in my locker, unfortunately.”

 

“should we… sneak in?”

 

She shook her head, “No, The cleaning staff might still be here, we’d get caught.”

 

“I can go!” The small Kwami piped up from Marinette’s purse, before phasing through it to float in front of the two.

 

“Are you sure?” Marinette replied.

 

Tikki nodded her head and phased through the large green oak wood door, Marinette was going to protest but her Kwami was already gone.

 

“She’s sweet,” Adrien said his eyes still on the door.

 

“You’d like her, your both so much alike,” she responded turning her gaze back to the falling rain, a few loud claps of thunder echoed across the rooftops of Paris, she became mesmerised by the pattern of falling rain, she could see Adrien’s gaze was upon her, she could feel the love and adoration behind them, she tried not to think about it but her own cheeks were betraying her as they started to glow a plan shade of red, she glanced over to Adrien to find that he too had a pale shade of red across his cheeks, she smiled at him before she had to avert her gaze to hide the ever growing shade of red her cheeks were turning.

 

Tikki was their saving grace, she silently appeared between the two holding the black umbrella, Marinette quickly took it from her, whispering a small thank you to her before she dove head first into her pink purse giving the two Miraculous wielders some alone time. Adrien raised his hand out into the rain feeling each and every drop before he decided to step out into it, Marinette extended the umbrella to shelter him from some of the pouring rain.

 

“It was raining like this when I fell in love with you… And it was right here.”

 

“It’s the same umbrella too.” 

 

“It’s funny how things work out, doesn’t it?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

A large clap of thunder echoed overhead, “Thank you, for letting me-“

 

“I know,” she shivered as a wave of cold air hit her, he took the large jacket off and gently wrapped it around her bare shoulders to try and keep the bite of the cold stormy winds.

 

“I should escort you home My Lady, before the really rain sets in.”

 

“I think that would best Minou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	19. Chapter Nineteen - Akumatized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Nearly _Akumatized__

Adrien could see Marinette was a little more than upset, Chloe had by now moved away from her, Adrien wanted to get to her but the crowd of students recently leaving their classrooms stopped him, he attempted to push past them but the crowd moved too quickly. He could only watch helplessly watch as she fell to her knees, the tattered remains of whatever she was holding now sat on the floor with her, she had a few pieces left in her hands and she was trying to piece them all together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, his heart broke for her a few tears dripped down her face, he could still see them even from that distance. He panically felt around for his phone, he found it and quickly scrolled down to ‘p’ searching for that silly nickname he had given to her all those years ago, He found it and pressed call he watched anxiously for her to pick up her phone but the dial tone continued to ring and she didn’t move, he ended the called and tried again when he reached her voicemail.

 

That’s when he saw it, the tiny black speck, one that looked like a butterfly, one that suddenly sparked a whole new range of emotions, he yelled her name but she didn’t hear him so he yelled again, he still didn’t manage to catch her attention, he felt his heart skip a beat as it got even closer to her it looked like it was going to try and land on one of her ribbons, He yelled her name one last time, hoping and praying that she would hear him and she did, he counted his lucky stars that she did, her face lit up briefly with hope, it was just enough for the butterfly to change targets. Adrien felt his heart race as the small black butterfly fluttered away from her, she followed his gaze and spotted the same black butterfly, he ran to her pushing past all of the students blocking his path, they could deal with it later but she needed him right now, he threw his arms around her wrapping her in a tight embrace, he cradled her head against his chest gently rocking her back and forth.

 

“Marinette, Marinette, talk to me, please… please, princess.”

 

“I- I- I’m fine Minou, just- just a little scared right now.”

 

“did it-“

 

“land?” she shook her head, “you’d be fighting me right now if it did.”

 

He didn’t loosen his grip on her nor rocking her, she was crying her tears dripped slowly onto his bare arms, he at first didn’t realise that he was crying too, it was only when he kept sniffling did it click. A slow action replay of the scene replayed in his head, nothing he could do would erase it from his head, it seemed to be etched into his brain, he tried to play happy memories over it but it didn’t stop it from resurfacing. Marinette clung to him as if he was the only thing left in the world, and he clung to her in much the same way, he murmured small reassurances to her but also for himself, they had to think positively otherwise they would fall prey to another one of hawkmoth’s butterflies.

 

It was funny how such a small thing could strike fear into the hearts of every Parisian, Adrien had never before been so scared of a butterfly except in that moment, Hawkmoth had tormented them, inflicting pain everywhere he sent his butterflies, he was tired of fighting them and so was Marinette, they had exhausted all routes in trying to find him years ago and were simply waiting for him to slip up now.

 

Adrien looked around realising that people were starting to take notice of the two, he lightly patted her shoulders, “Marinette we need to move from here, please…”

 

She slowly stood up with his help, He slipped her backpack off of her shoulders with little protest and immediately directed her out off the school, the park was their destination, quite with minimal distractions, the perfect place to talk. Her sniffles reached his ears as they walked, he hugged her tighter. 

 

Adrien pushed opened the metal gate, he winced at the piercing metal sound of the rusty hinges, his eyes scanned the park, deciding that sitting under the smaller trees was where they were going to sit. His hands moved to hers and he pulled her over to the tree’s, Marinette put her back against one and slid down, he followed her sitting down beside her on the brown dusty dirt, his back resting on the same small trunk.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

She shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know.”

 

“Are you angry or upset?”

 

“both and a little disappointed, Chloe she acted really childish.”

 

“Sounds a little bit like her, what was it over?”

 

“I doesn't matter, it was nothing…”

 

He pulled her in for a hug, letting they silence wash over them, he had hoped she would open up to him a little bit more, seeing her so upset had definitely had a major impact on his psyche, a few more tears fell down her face, he wanted to stop the tears and pain she was feeling, he wanted more than anything to end the seemingly endless rage Chloe had for her, he had seen her upset and angry too many times to count any more by Chloe’s hand. Adrien wished he wasn’t so attention starved when he was younger so that he would have seen Chloe’s mean and sometimes cruel side and yet he still held out hope that she would return to the kind the girl that she was in his younger years, that hope was really the only thing that was really keeping their friendship together.

 

The distant tolling bells of Notre-Dame echoed off in the distance, Adrien picked at the stray blades of grass that was within his reach, the late morning sun had risen high in the sky, and his stomach started to growl causing Marinette to giggle for the first time since they sat down.

 

“Sorry,” he whispered, “I kinda missed breakfast.”

 

“I should have something in my bag…”

 

“No, that’s yours.”

 

“Eat Adrien.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, now eat.”

 

He sighed but pulled her bag towards himself opening it and feeling around until his fingers brushed against a brown paper bag, pulling it out and opening it, he found 3 very squished croissants, he pulled one out and handed it to her, Marinette shook her head but when Adrien insisted again she took it, he reached in again pulling one out for himself. Although squished it still tasted as delectable as it usually did, he tried to pace himself so that it would last but that didn’t seem to do anything as he managed to eat the entirety of it in less than a few seconds. The temptation to grab the other one out of the bag was overwhelming but after arguing back and forth in his head, his self-control won out and he pushed the brown bag back into her backpack.

 

“Adrien?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Thank you, for… for being you.”

 

“It’s no problem Marinette.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	20. Chapter Tewnty - Hamsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _5 Years Later... >_

Marinette Carefully placed the pair of extremely fluffy rodents on the front passenger seats, she wanted to open the lid of the box to look in but... She knew that doing so would be a serious health risk for them both, she snatched her large winter jacket of the back seat, glad that her forgetful nature had left the jacket in the car well after the winter winds had died down and the Summer sun had started to shine. She was really overprotective of the two and she had only owned them for half an hour. Maybe it was their coat colours that had caused it, black and orange just like Plagg and Tikki. Adrien took it really hard when Master Fu had to retrieve them, Hawkmoth... His father, had long since fled the country, there hadn't been a sighting in well over a year, it was assumed that he had given up, It hurt to see Adrien so beat up over his fathers sudden disappearance and even more so when they realized that when he had disappeared so did the Akuma's. The two hamsters currently sitting in her front seat were unplanned, it was her way of trying to cheer him up as the 3 year anniversary came around. Her hand reached for the key, she turned it and the floor below her feet rumbled as the engine roared to life, the seat belt clicked into place and she pulled away from the curb heading in the direction of home.

——

 

Marinette carefully placed her keys in the lock before pushing it open, she dumped the keys in the wicker basket that sat on the buffet and placed her small purse near it, she could hear the chatter of voices from the tv, Adrien was home, It dashed any plans of surprising him but then again walking in with two new hamsters would be enough of a surprise.

 

"Hey! Marinette,” he greeted her cheerfully, he walked over to her, his eyes fixed on a pamphlet, he yet to notice the small travel cage in her hands, “I thought we would… order… some… What’s that?”

 

"A gift... We talked about getting some pets a few months ago and I had to pick up something for Alya's side business, what made her choose dog sitting I don't know but I saw them and I couldn't..."

 

"What did you get..."

 

"I can't open it for too long because they might go into shock but once we get the cage set up..."

 

"The cage in the car?"

 

"Yep."

 

"I'll go get it."

 

He shot over to her and place a kiss on her cheek before barreling down the apartment steps to her car bellow, she chuckled and headed over to the kitchen placing the cage down, a few squeaks came from the box, she headed over to the window to try and see where Adrien was, the sound of a car boot echoed up to the apartment windows, her eyes quickly found her car, Adrien had his hands full with the multiple bags that had come from the pets store, he ran towards the building, he would reach their floor in a few short minutes, she smiled and opened the fridge pulling out a carrot from the bottom, intending to cut it up for her two new pets. She quickly slipped the small cut slices into the box, the small scarring wishing shook the box as they ran away from the light seeping in from the slightly ajar lid, she murmured a quick sorry before closing the lid.

 

“Okay, I got it.”

 

“Where are we going to put it?”

 

“Over by the window,” he suggested with a shrug.

 

“We can always move it later, we just have to keep them in the dark for a little while, just so they can just to their new surroundings.”

 

“How much have you researched this?”

 

“A lot.”

 

“O…"

 

"Did you want to see them?"

 

"Yes!" he replied excitedly and practically ran towards her.

 

Marinette slowly opened the lid of the box for him to look in, his face lit up at the sight warming Marinette’s heart, he reached in to brush the fur of the orange one.

 

“I’ve only seen them once and I already love them,” he whispered in a serious tone.

 

“Help me set up the cage and then we can name them.”

 

“I think we both know what they are going to be called.”

 

“Right how could I forget.”

 

She pulled the medium size box out of the plastic bag to start building it.

 

———

 

Adrien couldn’t be separated from the hamsters since he had picked them up out of the box to put in their cage, the two had settled down on the lounge and found a movie for them both to watch, Adrien had pulled the cage over to sit on the coffee table so he could have quick access to the cage. The new Hamsters now named after their two Kwami’s, sat happily in his arms, she pulled out her phone and snapped a few quick photos of him and the sleeping Hamsters without him noticing and quickly sent them to the group chat getting quite a few _‘Aww’s’_ in response, she smiled then scooted over to rest her head on his shoulder to continue to watch the rest of the movie.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	21. Chapter Twenty- One: Nightmares

_The fog was never ending, she couldn’t see anywhere past a few feet in front of her and so far she hadn’t seen any signs of life, the grass beneath her feet felt fake and made of plastic, there were no signs of light but the area was lit up by something, shadows appeared and disappeared, they were humanoid in shape but never seemed to notice her, she was looking for something but what she didn’t know, she kept trying to ask the shadowy figures if they knew but the response was always the same, nothing._

 

_Marinette tried to release her transformation but the red spotted suit still stayed stuck her body, she was a little bit confused as she hadn’t owned the Ladybug Miraculous in more than 4 years, she pulled the yo-yo off her hip and threw it off in the distance only for it to come flying back._

 

_“My Lady!” he called, She couldn’t see him through the thick fog, she frantically ran towards the sound of his voice._

 

_“CHAT!” she yelled, her heart was racing, she couldn’t find him, shadows moved through the fog, she tried to reach out to one, her hand went straight through it, a few tears fell down her face, “Chat…” she whispered, she crumpled to her knees holding her chest, “Chat…”_

 

_“My Lady!”_

 

_She pushed her self to her feet and ran towards him again, it was like a never-ending cycle, his voice constantly moved as soon she got anywhere close to him._

 

_“My Lady,” he called again, this time to her left._

 

_She changed her direction and ran towards him only for his voice to be suddenly behind her. “Chat!” She froze in place as his voice flooded the empty space, it was all around her, she had no idea which one was real or where to go. She called his name again panicked and terrified, she continued to call out to him hoping that he would suddenly appear, tears fell freely from her eyes, she felt hopeless._

 

“Marinette… Marinette wake up, it's only a dream, Please Bug wake up.”

 

The gentle sound of his voice slowly pulled her from the tight embrace the dream had on her, A sun slowly started to rise, the fog started to dissipate and the dream started to fade into white light.

 

“Marinette… Hey, it's alright.”

 

She slowly started to blink and tried to sit up, she raised her hand to wipe away the sleep from her eyes only find her cheeks damp from her own tears.

 

“Marinette? Are you okay?”

 

She looked over to Adrien and slowly nodded her head, “Just a dream,” she murmured.

 

“Did you want to talk about it?” he asked.

 

“No, no not right now,” she pulled on the blankets she had kicked off in her sleep and pulled them back over herself as she laid back down, “talk in the morning.”

 

Her eyes fluttered closed and in minutes she was once again asleep.

 

—————

 

_Shadows, Fog, and his voice, she was back here again and running towards him, she knew now that this was a dream but she couldn’t stop herself from running towards him. The fog wasn’t as heavy as the first time she appeared here, she could see the grass now, she was following a small trail of blood droplets, the rational part of her brain kept trying to tell her that it was nothing to worry about but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something extremely wrong. Marinette tried to ignore the calls of her partner to continue the trail, she would catch herself running off towards him and would have to pull herself back towards the small trail of blood. The droplets slowly grew in size and Marinette quicken her pace, to get to the source even faster._

 

_“Chat?”_

 

_“My Lady…” he was covered in blood, there was a large cut in his side and blood in the corner of his mouth, “It’s good to see you.”_

 

_She ran towards him, her hands flying to his side to try and stop the bleeding, “You’re- You’re going to be okay,” she whispered choking back tears, “We’re going to get out of this.”_

 

_He struggled a little against her hand, the pain must have been intense, his hand met her cheek, he traced small circles across it, smearing some dried blood, a tear fell from her eye, “Why are you crying Bugaboo?”_

 

_“Because I’m afraid for you.”_

 

_“Why?”_

 

_“Because you might die, Chaton.”_

 

_“Why? You know this is a dream.”_

 

_“Doesn’t make it any less real.”_

 

_“It was good to see you again.”_

 

_“What did this to you?”_

 

_He chuckled, “I don’t know, I woke up here, like this,” More tears fell freely down her face, she put more pressure on his wound, he sucked in through his teeth, “Ladybug, you need to let me go…”_

 

_“No! you’ll die.”_

 

_“Ladybug, its almost time for you to wake up.”_

 

_“No! I won’t.”_

 

“Marinette!”

 

She shot up in bed breathing heavily.

 

“Marinette, Come here.”

 

She did as she was told and shuffled over to Adrien resting her head on his chest, he whispered small reassurances to her as she slowly cried. 

 

“It's okay… It’s okay, it’s not real and I promise it will never happen, calm down.”

 

“It- It- It felt real Adrien, I couldn't stop-“

 

“I know, I know, try to get some sleep, I’ll pull you out if you go back into that dream.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

She sunk further into his arms and tight embrace, he moved his fingers in small circles up and down her arm, slowly lulling her to sleep, she felt safe in his arms and soon sleep followed her, no nightmares haunted her for the rest of that night.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: Aged Up

Adrien turned the thick wooden spoon round and round the oversized stew pot, it was Marinette’s favourite recipe which was funny considering he had just thrown anything and everything eatable they had left in the cupboards before they had moved out of their last place into the pot. The new apartment was a lot larger but sometimes it felt too large, he missed that small apartment, It was nothing special, small, barely enough room to move, the small dining room table they had was hardly ever used what it had been bought for as Marinette needed somewhere to build her projects and assignments but it was really the first place that felt like home to him. 

 

Moving out of home and into the real world was a massive shock to him, he had no idea what to do, cooking, cleaning, washing his own clothes and going out and buying everything he needed for the week was something he had never even thought about when he suddenly packed his bags at left his childhood home so moving in with Marinette was a nice, she helped him adjust to a new way of living and he loved his new found freedom, the only time he felt his fathers controlling hands was when he showed up for work each and every season.

 

The sound of Marinette’s keys entering to lock pulled him from his nostalgic state, he poured the tin of tomato chunks into the stew waiting for her to pop her head into the kitchen.

 

“What are you cooking?”

 

“I thought I’d treat our friends to your favourite recipe,” he didn’t look up from the pot. 

 

“You went out and-“

 

“Yep, wanna taste?”

 

Marionette quickly nodded her head and headed to the cutlery drawer, pulling out a teaspoon she walked over to the pot and dipped it into the thick stew within, she hummed in appeasement as the stew washed over he taste buds, she dumped the spoon before heading over to the cupboard, Adrien shot her a strange look as she rummaged through the spice rack, she pulled out several spices placing them on the table next to the pot, he silently moved aside so she could add them into his stew.

 

“It needed something else,” she explained adding some Thyme into the mixture, “don’t get me wrong, I love this recipe but I’ve…”

 

“You can say it, Mari, I’m sure I can take it.”

 

“It’s always seemed a bit bland... Like it needed a little bit of a kick,” she looked around at the labels finally finding the one she wanted.

 

“Ouch Mari, my feelings.”

 

“Sorry Adrien,” she pulled a spoon out of the draw and dripped it into the stew, “here,” he took the spoon from her, she was right it did need a little kick.

 

He slowly nodded his head, “You were right, it definitely needed that.”

 

“Maybe we should experiment with the recipe more?”

 

“Yeah, How long does the stew need now?”

 

“Just a few more hours, why?” he replied placing the glass lid on top.

 

“I want to make some bread for it but I’ll make it when it’s almost done.”

 

“That’ll be nice,” he replied, packing away the extra spices that Marinette didn't end up using back into the cupboard they had come from.

 

He had learned long ago to put them back in the place they had come from, it was the one thing Marinette was OCD about. It was when he first moved into her tiny apartment, he had just finished moving all of her sewing supplies out of the spare bedroom when she called him over. She immediately started teaching him how to make one of her mothers family recipes and she had asked him to put the spices back in the little spice rack, he obliged and placed them back willy-nilly without much thought. A few weeks later, Marinette was making the same recipe but quickly spat the sauce out after trying to taste test it, Adrien had then been promptly banned from the kitchen for several weeks, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the memory.

 

“So, why did Nino want to come over so badly?”

 

“No idea, he just kept insisting so I finally gave in.”

 

“I wish he would have told us something.”

 

He hummed in agreement, “Movie?” he asked, “The stew is going to take a while…”

 

“Okay,” she replied shrugging her shoulders, “I picking!” she yelled running and vaulting over the back of the lounge. The remote was already in her hands by the time he sat down next to her, “Wait, when are you supposed to be at work?”

 

“Uh…” He glanced around frantically looking for a clock finally finding one,  “I uh…”

 

“I’ll drop you off.”

 

“Thank you, Marinette.”

 

“Go get your things,” she commanded.

 

“I love you so much right now.” He raced towards the broom cupboard grabbing the travel bag pre-prepared with everything he might need, “Nino…”

 

“I’ll go get him and explain why you are working late, now out the door.” 

 

She was in the kitchen turning the stove off when he headed out the front door, it only took her a minute to meet him at the front door and locking it, he struggled to not drag his feet down the steps but with Marinette’s help he managed to get into her small hatchback and made it to the office a mere 20 minutes late, he waved goodbye to her and headed into the dreaded building, the one thing he hated about being an adult was working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three: Fashion Star

Adrien hated runways he always did, his first runway was fun but then again everything is to a five-year-old, it quickly got boring and seemed more like another chore for him to do on top of everything else in he was forced to do. His mind went through the usual motions as he walked up and down the runway, changing outfits in record times, he never once looked at the crowd, years of training and being yelled at had conditioned him not to, the camera flashes blinded him but the months of practice walking up and down this particular stage kicked in in the few short moments he couldn’t see, a few screams at the back indicated that although they tried to vet everyone that was in the building some of his fangirls had still managed to sneak there way inside, some security guards were most likely already on there way to her.

 

He finished his final walk and was immediately greeted by the frantic sight backstage, his mind had been so focused on his job that when he finally snapped out of it it had been jarring. Adrien shyly sunk back towards a wall so he was out of the way of several stressed designers and stylists, he tipped toed his way around them to change out of the uncomfortable clothes, he longed for the comfortable cotton tee-shirts Marinette had given him although they once were as tight fitting as the designer clothes he was wearing, they had stretched and loosened over the years allowing him to move and breath freely without making him feel like a puppet.

 

Oh, the things he once did for his father, he gave up any chance at a normal job just so he could be a fashion star for his father, wearing contact lenses instead of the glasses he and Marinette had picked out, following every dietary and exercise plan his father set for him throughout the years. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t escape his past or the career his father had sent him down. Although he hated the job it was the only way he could help Marinette pay the bills.

 

He changed out of the three-piece suit back into the large grey jumper and jeans he had entered the building in, he looked around for his shoes, he could clearly remember stashing them in his bag with the rest of his clothes, they weren’t his favourite pair so he wasn’t that worried about losing them but he really didn’t want to leave them behind or walk home in a pair of dress shoes, he rifled through his bag one last time before pulling the dress shoes back on, he went back to where he stored his bag but there was still no sign of the shoes, he looked down at his watch, there was no point in looking for them, they were clearly gone and he needed to go home. 

 

Adrien stepped out into the cold air, he didn’t think he would ever make it out of there, the sun had set hours before, if there weren’t any clouds in the sky he would be able to see the stars twinkling above, he wondered where Marinette was or rather what she was doing, he already wanted to vent to her about the painful few hours he had. He pulled his phone out to check for any new messages, there were several notifications from his social media in reaction to the show, the obligatory messages from Chloe congratulating him but none… none from Marinette, he didn’t dare hide the disappointment but quickly stuffed the phone in his pocket and started to walk towards their shared apartment.

 

With a constant stream of cars heading down the road beside him, he shivered slightly in the night air, he picked up his pace to get home earlier, he glanced over his shoulder every few minutes to make sure no one was following him. A car honked its horn behind him but ignored it, it beeped again so he turned around, a red hatchback pulled over to the side of the road… Marinette.

 

“Marinette?”

 

She got out leaving the car running, “Adrien, I’m so sorry I’m late there was a heap of traffic downtown and I accidentally left my phone at home again I…”

 

“Come here.”

 

She ran up to him throwing her arms around his neck, “Were you going to walk home?” she whispered in his ear.

 

“Yeah, it's a nice night, I thought I’d go for a walk.”

 

“I can join you if you like, I just need to park-“

 

“There’s a parking garage just up the road.”

 

“I…”

 

“I’ll show you,” he gently unwrapped her arms from around his neck.

 

“Sorry, I should have-“

 

He waved his hands in front of her, “it’s fine Mari, come on let's go.”

 

He led her back to her car and opened the driver side door for her, she got in and he closed it for her, he rounded the hood and got into the front passenger seat.

 

“So… How bad was it this time?” she asked pulling away from the curb.

 

His belt clicked into place, “Someone stole my shoes this time around,” he replied with a shrug.

 

“what?” she almost yelled in shock,  “How’d that happen?”

 

“I remember putting them in my bag but I came back and… well, they weren’t there, I couldn’t find them so… I guess I’ve now got a new pair of dress shoes.”

 

“Did you report them?”

 

“Yes,” he lied, “They’ll keep an eye out for them for me, but I needed a new pair anyway, the garage is just up ahead,” he continued pointing at the large building sitting on the corner.

 

“Thank you,” the indicator clicked on and she pulled into it, she pulled her way up to the 3rd floor and parked.

 

“You ready?” she asked grabbing her purse from the back seat.

 

He nodded his head in response holding out his hand for her to take, she gladly took it and they started to walk away, “Wait,” he asked, “Did you lock it?” Marinette dropped his hand and felt around for her keys, she pulled them from her jacket pocket and locked it, “Now are we ready,” he teased.

 

“Yes…”

 

“Good, I know this nice place to get some ice cream.”

 

She once again took his hand, leaning her head against his shoulder, he led her out of the loud parking garage to the streets below, they headed east away from their apartment, he hoped the ice cream parlour would be open because he was suddenly in the mood for it.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

"What did Nino want?”

 

“I don’t know, he cancelled, he made the excuse that something had come up but I think he just wants to talk to you,” she replied with a yawn.

 

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” he offered, pulling Marinette closer, “Did you want ice cream, you seem pretty tired.”

 

“We’ll get ice cream.”

 

“Are-“

 

“We’ll get ice cream,” she repeated, “so how did you discover this place?”

 

“The same way I always do, by accident,” he responded sarcastically, Marinette half-heartedly smacked her hand against his chest, “sorry, I constantly went past it on my morning run and it was always closed so… I rescheduled my run-“

 

“Just so you could try it,” she finished his sentence with a laugh.

 

“Yep, I’ve only been there a few times and I know they close super late.”

 

“You’re just hoping it's still open, Aren’t you?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“How Far is it?” she asked through another yawn.

 

“A few more streets but it’s worth it, I promise.”

 

“I know, just…”

 

“Tired?”

 

“Yeah, I was playing on going to bed earlier tonight but this is a nice way to ruin my plans…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four: Bridal Style

Adrien handed the cashier the changed and headed over to where Marinette was sitting, still surprised at the fact that the place was still open and the fact that they had over 40 different flavours and Marinette had settled on plain vanilla. He was happy with his choice, a caramel and coffee bean mixture with chocolate pieces on top, with fashion week over he decided that he had the right to pig out for a once and a while, he dug into it before he sat down at the corner table that Marinette had chosen. She had her head buried in his phone, looking over all the outfits from the night although she had decided to become a costume designer over her original choice, she still managed to find time to critic other designers choices, it was hilarious at times, she would pull faces when she found an outfit she didn’t like quickly offering up comments and ways she would try to improve the design into one more practical than edgy. He ate another spoonful of ice cream as he watched her silently take notes on outfits, her mind was probably already designing a new outfit.

 

“You know, I installed a drawing app a few weeks ago…” 

 

He smiled as she closed the app frantically looking for the aforementioned app, her fingers worked fast once she found it, sketching an extravagant dress, she groaned slightly at the fact the phone didn’t pick up the different amount of pressure she was putting on the screen but continued to sketch. She pinched the screen zooming out to look at her basic sketch, then slid the phone over for him to inspect. 

 

With it only being a basic sketch, there were no colours and it was only a rough idea but he could see where she was going with it, it was long was most likely what someone would wear on the red carpet, it had no sleeves but there was what looked like a thin black belt around the figure's hips, he knew that when they got home it was going to quickly become a full fledge sketch.

 

He slowly nodded ahead, “It’s good, what colours?”

 

“Red maybe…”

 

“Try a royal blue, it screams a red carpet dress and it will blend in.”

 

“I can’t draw it on there but I was thinking that the sleeves,” she pointed to the shoulders, “they will have some diamantes to draw the attention up.”

 

“That’ll work, it’s a good sketch, Mari,” he handed her back the phone.

 

“Thank you, Adrien.”

 

She reopened the app she was originally in and continued scrolling through the news feed. She tried her best to stifle another yawn as she twirled her plastic spoon in the melting ice cream. Cars drove past the glass shop window most likely one their way home which was probably where they should be heading.

 

“Marinette?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“We should start walking back.”

 

“Alright…” she sounded a little upset.

 

“What? You don’t want to go?”

 

“No, not yet,” she replied scooping and eating some of the melted ice-cream, her focus still on the screen before her.

 

“Okay then.”

 

Adrien looked around for something to do. A few tabloid magazines sat on the small coffee table in the corner, A tv sat above him playing some game show he hadn’t seen before and a radio sat at the counter broadcasting the news to the attendant behind it. None of the activities caught his interest, he longed for the phone that was in his girlfriend's hands.

 

He finished off the last of his ice cream, polishing the bottom of the cardboard container and plastic spoon. Marinette quickly followed suit and handed him back his phone. He mouthed her a ‘let's go’ and she nodded her head. Adrien held the door open for her then followed her out onto the cold Paris streets, dining his hands into his pockets for warmth, fresh snow covered the sides of the road having been worn down from the constant stream of people walking back and forth down the street.

 

Marinette buried her hands into his pockets in an attempt to keep them from freezing, neither of them had expected snow so they hadn’t dressed for it. He braved the cold and pulled his hand from Marinette’s grasp to wrap it around her.

 

They made it halfway down the block before Marinette started to trip and stumble, the stockings she was wearing weren’t the best for the cold.

 

“Marinette, are you okay?”

 

“I can’t feel my legs.”

 

“Would you like me to carry you?”

 

“Please?” she replied jokingly.

 

Adrien smiled at her and quickly bent his knee’s scooping her up into his arms, she let out a yelp in surprise at the change throwing her arms around his neck in support.

 

“Adrien!”

 

“What? You asked for it?”

 

“I didn’t mean it, put me down!”

 

“Nope, besides it’ll be fast if I carry you.”

 

“I’m not letting you carry me home,” she replied in protest.

 

“I’ll let you walk up the steps then.”

 

“Adrien!” she whined, “That’s not what I meant and you know that.”

 

“Sorry Princess,” he replied still walking down the street with her in his arms, she kicked her legs out a little to try and wriggle out of his grasp, “Marinette, stop moving. Please,” he asked, she did as he asked and stopped her struggling, “Thank you.”

 

She settled further into his arm resting her head on his chest, she grew heavy in his arms, he looked down to see that she was slowly drifting off to sleep, he tightened his grasp on her and quicken his pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five: Protect

Marinette slammed the coffee cup down on the desk and ran to the nearest window, plumes of smoke rose high above the horizon and a few screams reached up to her through the closed window. She reached into her pocket for her phone only to find it wasn’t there, looking around the room frantically her eyes fell upon her purse, she ripped it from where it was hanging off the chair dumping the contents on the small desk. In amongst all the items now on her desk sat her phone, she opened it when it started to ring, Adrien’s contact profile covered the tiny screen, she quickly answered it.

 

“Marinette, we have a situation, we may need the real Plagg and Tikki.”

 

“Is it an Akuma?”

 

“Can’t tell yet, it…”

 

“What? What is it?”

 

“Master Fu owns a massage parlour right?”

 

“Yeah…” she replied not knowing where his line of questioning was going, “Adrien? What’s wrong?”

 

—-

 

Marinette started at the old gramophone and the shattered remains of the Turtle Miraculous. Adrien had gotten there after Master Fu’s attacker had fled, the Akuma had only been a distraction for the attack and quickly disappeared once Adrien had arrived at the parlour. Her boss didn’t appreciate her running off in the middle of a work day but with the panic downtown, she was quickly forgotten in the panic. She clicked the on/off button her phone repeatedly as he minds went over and over the different outcomes. She needed to do something but what? There were no leads, the police had roped off the scene already so she couldn’t see the torn apart parlour but she pretty much knew what they were looking for. The gramophone, how Adrien was able to make it down the street with a heavy gym bag full of books and the gramophone without raising any eyebrows still astounded her. Marinette moved over to the gramophone although Adrien said that it was sitting on the floor as if it had been thrown meaning the person hadn’t seen it as anything more than its exterior. She pressed her thumbs into the twin dragons’ eyes and the secret panel flipped open, it had been serval years since she had opened it but she still remembered the code. The phone twisted aside and the wood octagonal box rose from its compartment within. She took the box over to the dining table and opened it, letting out a sigh her eyes fell upon all of the Miraculous, they were safe, the only ones missing were the once she had never held and had only seen one of them briefly.

 

“Wow…”

 

Her head shot towards the door only to see Adrien standing there.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t realise that you were on high alert,” he apologised.

 

“It’s okay,” she replied, “did- did you want to have a look?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders, “is it okay?”

 

“It’s not going to blow up if you breath too hard, I’m sure,” she held her hand out to pull him towards the table.

 

She watched his face light up as he observed the box, he reached out to touch one but quickly pulled his hand back, “You- You weren’t kidding about there being a lot more.”

 

“Apparently there are more, these are only the ones Master Fu fled the temple with.”

 

“What are we going to do?”

 

“I-“ she didn’t know, she hadn’t thought that far ahead, all her planning she hadn’t thought about what they were going to do, “I don’t know Adrien.”

 

“Well, we know my father is back- Back here in Paris and we know what he’s after, we knew that he would come back one day I just-“

 

“Didn’t think it’d be so soon?” she replied finishing his sentence, Adrien nodded his head in response, “Truthfully I- I didn’t think he’d be back so soon either.”

 

“I guess we have to protect the box while Master Fu recovers then.”

 

“Yeah, we-We should leave the Miraculous in there, for now, we don’t know what-“

 

“What the attacker got out of him and Wayzz,” he nodded his head, “I was hoping- never mind.”

 

“I want to see them too, don’t worry Adrien, the Doctors said that Fu should wake up in a few days.”

 

“I know, I guess I’ll get started on dinner then.”

 

He tried to hide the disappointment in his voice walking over to the fridge pulling out the ingredients they had prepared earlier that day. She wanted to say something to cheer him up but the words died in her throat. She watched him go through the motions of cooking lasagna and she felt her heart grow heavy, he would cheer up eventually but that didn’t stop her from feeling any worse.

 

She pushed all the drawers in of the box, she placed the shattered turtle Miraculous in its place and closed the lit. The lid of the gramophone slid back into place hiding any evidence of the contents within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On [Tumblr](https://leswansong.tumblr.com/)ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six: Civilian Heroes

Adrien pushed the shopping cart further down the ile, he still didn’t know how to pick out fresh vegetables from the ones that weren’t, he sighed and just picked up a bag of prepackaged zucchini, usually, he had Marinette to help him but Marinette needed to work today. She didn’t explain what had happened but apparently, someone had messed up an order and it was all hands on deck if they wanted the costumes ready for filming on Monday. He looked down at the list in his hand, he only had a few things left to get and they didn’t need him to judge which pumpkin would be better for a soup or roast.

 

He strolled down ile after ile picking up the final items he headed down the next ile although not on the list he did want to pick up some sweets just in case the Kwami’s were needed. He already had a small wheel of cheese in the cart.

 

He looked at all the different sweets, he hadn’t learned as much as Marinette from Master Fu. Marinette knew everything about each and every Kwami. She knew their names and what they ate as well as their personality. He only knew a handful of names and even less about what each of them enjoyed to eat. He decided that an assortment of different sweets was the best choice of action with his limited knowledge.

 

“Hello!”

 

Adrien jumped at the voice, it was a child’s voice. He looked down to see a boy no older than four at his feet.

 

“Hello…” he replied bending down to the boy’s hight, “where are your parents?” 

 

The small boy giggled, Adrien glanced around for any sign of the boy’s parents but found that they were the only ones there. Adrien threw the bag of assorted treats up into his cart as to free his hands.

 

“What’s your name?” the little boy asked.

 

“My name is Adrien, what’s yours?”

 

“Peter.”

 

“Where did you last see your Mother?”

 

The boy shrugged his shoulders.

 

“Hmm… where did you last see you father?”

 

The boy pointed towards the cash register. Adrien held his hand out for the boy to take which he did, he started to slowly push his cart further down the ile making sure not to walk to fast for the boy. There were quite a lot of people waiting in the queues most of them were women. Adrien looked around for a frantic parent whether that was a man or a woman. He learned long ago that children weren’t the most reliable source of information.

 

He bent back down to Peter’s side, “Do you see them?”

 

The boy nodded his head and pointed to a woman standing at the far register, she had an even younger child in her arms. Adrien stood up and walked towards the woman.

 

“Excuse Me but I believe you may have lost this little one,’ he stated.

 

The woman spun around to look at him then down at the boy, “Peter?”

 

“He probably wondered off when you were unloading the cart, he made it all the way to the sweets ile.”

 

“Thank you, thank you for bringing him back to me.”

 

“It’s no problem, Madame.”

 

The woman pulled the boy closer to her, “I… I think it’d be best if I put him in the cart…”

 

“Here I’ll do it, seeing as you have your hands full with that one,” he replied, he quickly picked the boy up and into the cart, he resisted the tiny urge to tickle the child.

 

“Thank you again, you’re a hero you know that.”

 

“It’s really no problem.”

 

He smiled and headed to another register to pay for the items in his cart. He carefully packed away the items in bags and head out towards the carpark. He was surprised to see Marinette’s red hatchback parked next to his silver Jeep. He carefully rounded them both and opened the boot of his car to place the shopping bags in, he kept his ears sharp listening for Marinette’s ‘silent’ approach, she was never any good at trying to sneak up on him, her footsteps were always too heavy and loud and judging by her breathing she was hiding behind the stone column to his left. He sighed and waited for her to make her move, he only had a few bags left so she would have to make it soon. And soon she did, he had just put the final bag in the back when she started towards him, she was banking on the loud sound of him closing the boot to hide her footfalls. He chuckled to himself, she was still going to try and scare him.

 

“Marinette… you know that it won’t work.”

 

“Damn it, Adrien, you could have let me try.”

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

“Lunch break thought I’d help you but you… seemed to have it already covered, anything exciting happen while I was working?”

 

“No not really, a little boy wandered away from his mother though, he was sweet very talkative, his mother didn’t even realise he had wandered off.”

 

“And you brought him back to her, you're still a hero at heart ‘My Minou’.”

 

“And you would have done the same if given the chance ‘My Lady’. How- How long do you have?”

 

“A few minutes,” she replied glancing down at her phone, “on second thought… I better start heading back, Ms Rosina wasn’t happy this morning.”

 

“The designer's temper one I know all too well.”

 

Marinette playfully hit his arm in retaliation, “I’m Leaving!” she shouted, unlocking her car, her playful laugh was music to his ears.

 

“I’ll see you at home?”

 

“Most definitely,” she called back.

 

The sound of her car starting made it sound like a lions roar in the concrete walls of the carpark. Adrien blew her a kiss through her open window before she drove off, he watched her tail lights disappear into a sea of cars before he got into his own.

 

—====+====—

 

Marinette, watched a car go flying past her office window, that had definitely raised a few eyebrows as she was currently on the fourth floor. It didn’t immediately click that was something wrong with the sight and she continued about her business as if she had just seen a bird fly past. She ran her pair of fabric scissors along the length of fabric and with the final slip was when it clicked. She rushed to the window looking at the street below, flames rose from turned over cars, shattered glass covered the pavement from destroyed storefronts. She felt like she was having a serious case of Déjà Vu as she felt around for her phone finding it missing and when she finally found it, Adrien was already calling.

 

“Another one?” she questioned.

 

“Yeah, I think his intentions are pretty clear with this one.”

 

“I’m still at work, I won’t be able to get over to the apartment to retrieve-“

 

He cut her off, “I’ll make my way to you.”

 

“No! head to the apartment I’ll tell you the code,” she explained shoving everything back into 

 

“Are you sure?” his voice crackled through, some loud bangs echoed behind him.

 

“I’m sure,” she replied, she stepped out of her office into a frantic scene, she highly doubted it was from the Akuma raging in the streets.

 

She headed for the back door hoping to slip out unnoticed by her co-workers. And in their rush they didn’t, they were so busy trying to fulfil Ms Rosina’s every request that none of them questioned her even if they did notice.

 

Marinette paused in the closed doorway, she… she hadn’t expected to see an Akuma. People screamed at the sight of it, it was ugly, it looked like a- a- she didn’t know what it looked like. It was wet and slimy, it had the figure of a man but only one eye, it was grotesque. She was lucky she didn’t get time to eat her lunch because it would have been a pile on the side of the road by now.

 

Adrien was silent on the other side of the call, he was probably figuring his own way around the other Akuma, she wondered if it was as ugly as this one. She watched it for a minute trying to understand what its powers were. A child’s cry reached both hers and The Akuma, she looked around to find a woman near a green. The Akuma approached the woman as she tried to pull her child from its restraints. The Akuma ignored her shouts and insults, its target was clear, Marinette looked around for something anything to draw the attention away from the woman. A pile of rubble from a damaged building was to her right, it was a long shot but her only hope so she did it. She picked up a rock and threw it into the air feeling the weight of it just how she once tested the weight of her yo-yo, once happy with it she hurled it at the ugly beast.  After a few rocks the Akuma turned to face her, the woman whispered a thank-you to her, the child was finally free from its car seat, she was glad that they were safe but now she had an Akuma after her.

 

—====+====—

 

Adrien grabbed hold of the stranger's hand and pulled them into the safety of the building, the woman murmured a quick thank you still half in shock. Adrien waited for the perfect moment when the Akuma wasn’t looking and made his way out of the building back down the street towards his apartment. Marinette had confirmed that when she was at work on the other side of Paris that there was another Akuma causing a ruckus near too. His father hadn’t even been in Paris a week and he was already releasing two Akuma’s at a time. It was going to be a busy day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On Tumblrヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Marinette and The Agreste(s)

 

The Agreste Mansion, it had been long since abandoned. When Gabriel fled, it had taken them a month to figure it out. The Akuma’s had just… stopped. Adrien… the memory still hurt her. He had been the one to figure it out, she had found him frantically pouring over files within the cream coloured walls. The black and white checkered marble floors of the mansion’s entryway had been covered in paper, his cheeks were still tear stained. She could barely get a word out of him at first, she even had to force him to eat. Then one night she found him curled up on the floor like his namesake, he was crying but no tears fell for he had already cried them all, she dried his wet face with her hands and eventually convinced him to come to bed. That was the last night they stayed in that house. As soon as Adrien left that house he couldn’t and wouldn’t take another step inside it. He avoided it at all costs, even when driving.

 

Adrien had opted out on making sure the mansion wasn’t where Gabriel had returned to. Marinette crawled over to the roof's edge, the black cape hid the bright red of the Ladybug suit making her a shadow. Nobody would be able to spot her from the midnight sky. She pulled the binoculars from the leather bag. There was a light on in one of the top floor windows, that she knew wasn’t supposed to be on. She scanned all the windows for any signs of life but as she predicted there were none. It was a waiting game, waiting for someone to slip up and move in front of one of those gorgeous windows.

 

——————

 

_“Marinette slow down!”_

 

_“Nope, You’ll have to catch me!” she yelled back, her left arm had been recently freed from its plaster confines and she intended to enjoy the freedom to move her arm in any way she wanted. It felt a little funny wandering around without a large bulky thing on her arm, she even forgot at times._

 

_Marinette ran down the large marble steps to the foyer, she was still clutching her phone, she paused again trying to post the picture into the group chat. She dodged his hands. They were both giggling, their laughter was echoing throughout the halls, it was probably the first time in a very long that the house had heard such joy. Adrien tried to snatch the phone from her again but failed._

 

_“Marinette!” he whined, “please don’t.”_

 

_“Adrien… It’s a cute photo.”_

 

_“Please.”_

 

_“Fine… But,” she said pulling the phone further away from him, “I get to keep the photo. I promise I won’t send it to anyone,” she emphasised the last word._

 

_“You promise?”_

 

_“I promise.”_

 

_Adrien stopped reaching for the phone and Marinette relaxed._

 

_“We… We should head back upstairs before… Before Natalie or worse My father,” Adrien explained, “I- I don’t want them to find out about, not yet at least.”_

 

_“Too late.”_

 

_Marinette spun around, she looked up at the top the stairs, her eyes met Gabriel's then Natalie’s, the older Agreste didn’t give his emotions away, he stood stone-faced waiting for his only son to explain why there was a girl in the fortified house. Adrien’s mouth moved but no words came out. Marinette couldn’t find the words either, The previous few times she had met the man he had both scared her and left her amazed. This time she was terrified, it felt like she was just caught doing something wrong._

 

_Adrien finally summoned the courage to speak, “Father this is-“_

 

_“I know who she is, what I don’t know is why she is here,” his voice was demanding, he expected an answer immediately._

 

_“I invited her father.”_

 

_“Natalie arrange an escort for Ms Dupain-Cheng, see that she gets home.”_

 

_Marinette looked over at Adrien, panic rose through him, she could see it in his face._

 

_“I’ll be okay,” she whispered, “rooftop…”_

 

_He nodded his head._

 

_Marinette allowed herself to be escorted from the cold mansion, the warmth had long since faded._

 

——————

 

Memories of her time within those walls were painful to remember, painful for many things. She remembered the coldness she felt, the loneliness, something was missing from that house and she believed that nothing could truly fix it. Gabriel was a cold person, she had learned quickly that he was not someone she should aspire to be. She should have realised that the moment he banned Nino and Alya from the house.

 

Marinette settled down on the roof wishing she had brought a pillow or something comfortable at least, it was going to be a while and stakeouts were never fun. Marinette pulled her sketchbook from her leather bag, it was her only source of entertainment.

 

—————

 

_“Adrien?” she asked surprised to see him standing on her doorstep, “what’s wrong?”_

 

_“He… My father, he doesn’t want me to see you any more, I-“_

 

_She let out a disappointed sigh. Of course Gabriel had said that. Adrien was 18 now and he could go out into the world and make his own decisions but Gabriel… Gabriel couldn’t see that, he only saw Adrien being taken away from him and exploited by someone. It was sad that Gabriel didn’t trust her or even his own son._

 

_“Come here Minou,” she pulled him in for a hug, “your father can do many things but he can’t control everything,” she released him from the embrace._

 

_“I… I need somewhere to stay… I…” he lifted up the large gym bag for her to see._

 

_“Is this a permanent thing?”_

 

_“Most likely.”_

 

_“Well then, we better clean out my office for you.”_

 

————-

 

Marinette stifled her 3rd yawn, nothing had changed in the 5 hours she had been watching the house. She really wanted some tea to wake her up, one of Master Fu’s brews, maybe one day she’ll learn that recipe. The thickly bound book that was her sketchbook sat abandoned beside her in favour of star gazing. The stars reminded her how small she really was in the word of 7 billion people. She felt so isolated and alone, she hated having a small existential crisis that she couldn’t run away from.

 

“Hey…”

 

Marinette felt her heart leap of the roof at the sound of his voice. She spun her head around to see his face. Even in the low light, she could see the tears in his eyes. He past down a cheap cardboard coffee cup to her, it was warm to the touch, a welcome relief in the cold night. She patted the spot beside her for him to sit down. He followed her request and laid down beside her.

 

“Hey…”

 

“He’s back… isn’t he?” he asked seeing down a brown paperback, she smiled at the sight of the bakery logo and reached inside pulling out a cheese danish.

 

“I- I haven’t seen any movement but I’d say that he was.”

 

“The light…”

 

“Yeah, and the code to the front gate has been changed.”

 

“I thought we agreed that you weren’t to go-“

 

“I know, I needed to check.”

 

“Just-“

 

“I won’t, I’ll never go near it again,” she promised.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Adrien pulled the backpack he had brought with him closer, he felt around before dragging a small pillow and blanket out of it. He handed her the pillow and threw the blanket over her. Adrien shifted closer towards her for warmth.

 

“Get some sleep Bug, I’ll watch the house.”

 

“You sure?”

 

“I’m sure My Lady.”

 

“Okay,” she replied through another yawn, she huddled closer to him, his arm wrapped around her keeping her in place beside him. Sleep quickly overtook her. The last thing she remembered before she was taken by sleep was her lover's warm embrace and the twinkling of stars above her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On Tumblrヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Adrien Dupain-Cheng

Adrien looked at the form in front of him, did he want to go through with this.  He could think of no greater insult to his father. He had gone through the motions before, filling it out then walking all the way to town hall only to march right back and rip the paper up.

 

“Kid, why do you keep sighing, you either do it or not.”

 

“It feels wrong but in a good way. I just don’t know how Marinette would feel.”

 

“Flattered,” Plagg replied with a shrug.

 

“Maybe…”

 

“You could always buy a ring to help ease her into the idea.”

 

“Are you suggesting that I propose?”

 

“You’ve been dating her ever since you were 16… and you’re how old now?”

 

“Marinette and I… we haven’t talked about… I- I was always playing to ask but-“

 

“Maybe you should ask her parents…”

 

“Tomorrow, I better go make sure she’s safe.”

 

He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach, he knew what checking on her meant but he would have to man up about it someday for it was only a house and it couldn’t hurt him.

 

Adrien looked around for a bag his eyes landed on Marinette’s old school backpack, it was a little beat up but it would have to do. He tossed the blanket and pillow into it and zipped it up. He would need to get some coffee before he met up with her, she had been out there for almost 6 hours and had only taken her sketchbook. He called out for Plagg to follow him just as he opened the front door.

 

He pulled his jacket collar up, he was regretting not bringing a scarf because the cold night air was a lot colder than he thought. The cafe lights were still visible from half a block away. He struggled to remember Marinette’s exact order for it had been a while, luckily enough for him, the late night barrister remembered it and he was in and out in a mere 10 minutes.

 

Adrien took a regretful step towards his childhood home. The closest he had ever gotten was almost every weekend when Marinette went to visit them. He struggled some weekends to get anywhere close to the place.

 

Adrien paused on the corner out the front of the bakery, he could see the mansion just down the street. He dreaded the thought of entering that house again. He stood in the warm light that peered through the bakery windows, waiting, waiting for his feet to propel him forwards.  He looked up at the top floor of the bakery, the flowers that Marinette had planted during high school were still thriving. Tom was still in the tiny store presumably cleaning up from the messes of the day. He couldn’t resist going up and knocking on the bakery doors. Marinette’s father looked up, he smiled when he realised who had knocked. The man walked over to the door and unlocked it.

 

“Adrien! What are you doing here?” his voice boomed.

 

Adrien already felt like he was home as Tom pulled him into the surprisingly warm bakery.

 

“I… I wanted to ask you something.”

 

“Ah… You plan on asking my daughter to marry you.”

 

Tom returned to cleaning, picking up a cleaning spray and wiped down a countertop.

 

“How?”

 

“A father just like a mother, always knows,” Tom replied with a smile, “I’m sure she’ll say yes and you know how Sabine and I feel about you. You’ll always be welcome here and we would be more than happy for you to be our son-in-law.”

 

“Thank you, sir, that… that means a lot but there is something else I wanted to ask… I want to take Marinette’s last name, I-“

 

He moved beside Tom and set down the two coffee cups in trade of the tea-towels, he started to wipe down one of the glass display cases.

 

“You are more than welcome to it,” Tom quickly replied cutting Adrien off, “what are you concerned about?” Tom asked.

 

“Marinette.”

 

“Ah…” He paused what he was doing to look at Adrien, “Marinette will be more than happy, you don’t have to worry, I’m sure she’ll understand why you want to take her last name.”

 

“I know… Just-“

 

“Don’t think too hard about it, it's only a last name Adrien not the end of the word.”

 

Adrien chuckled, with Marinette, it might as well be. Her temper was legendary with the right trigger.

 

“You best get going I’m sure Marinette is waiting for you.”

 

Tom walked over to a shelf at the back of the shop, trays of the day’s unsold baked good lined it.  He expertly opened a brown paper and started stuffing it full of all the different types then handed it to him. Adrien looked for an empty hand, Tom chuckled then stuffed it under his right arm. He helped Adrien open the tall bakery door and waved him goodbye. Adrien smiled back and continued down the street heading into a nearby ally way. 

 

He called for his transformation feeling the power wash over him, Plagg was kind enough to leave the pastel pink backpack. He leapt across the rooftops towards Marinette’s stakeout position. At first, he couldn’t see her, the cloak she was wearing hid her well, then he saw a dark patch move slightly. He looked over at what she was watching it hurt to see that house again but he felt better knowing that he still had a family even if they weren’t related by blood. 

 

He cleared his throat slightly before speaking.

 

“Hey…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On Tumblrヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bien Joue

Marinette rolled over, her back was stiff and she couldn’t ignore the bright light that was shining in her eyes. She rubbed her eyes opening them to the early morning sun, she blinked and looked around, the rooftop. She looked over, she was still in Adrien’s arms.

 

“Hey…”

 

“You’re awake, I expected you to sleep for a few more hours.”

 

“Thank you… For letting me sleep.”

 

“I- There hasn’t been any movement all night.”

 

“Didn’t think so,” she replied, sitting up.

 

She looked over at the mansion across the street, the two would have to change their position soon so they wouldn’t be detected. She pulled on the brown paper bag to look inside to find that it was almost empty, a few croissants and danishes were left. Marinette pulled the blanket further over herself, Adrien shot her a strange look, the warm morning sun was hot enough that she wouldn’t need it. Marinette released her transformation under the safety of the blanket, Tikki shot out of the earrings and straight into the brown paper bag, Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

 

“I’m guessing we need more sweets then huh?” Adrien asked looking at the brown bag.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think Papa put any cheese ones in.”

 

“I’ll go get us some more, we need coffee too, I’m not sitting around all day watching the house without coffee.”

 

“Okay… Hurry back.”

 

“Hm… maybe I should head home, that king size bed we have is starting to seem really inviting.”

 

“Adrien…” she whined, “go get food.”

 

“Fine, anything special?”

 

“Surprise me.”

 

He shrugged his shoulders, “okay,” he stood up and stretched, “and don’t move,” he warned walking away across the rooftops.

 

“I know!” she shouted back.

 

She watched his black suit disappear from the Paris skyline, she looked back over at the mansion only to see a silver car pull up. She had to do a double take, she tried to flatten herself even further on the rooftop as she watched Gabriel and Natalie get out of the back seat. She waited until their backs were turned before she called for her transformation, the light of it caught in one of the windows and her heart dropped as Gabriel turned around searching for the source but he never looked up onto the rooftops.

 

She caught glimpses through the windows of the conversation the two were having. Seconds felt like hours, the two looked like they had just returned and the large number of suitcases Adrien’s old bodyguard was handing to newly hired staff confirmed it. She wondered where Adrien had gotten to and how long it would be before he returned, the leather bag she had bought with her sat beside her, she quickly reached for it, she needed her binoculars. With them she was able to see more clearly what was going on, Natalie looked like she was having an intense argument with Gabriel, her lip reading was a little rusty but she was able to make a few words here and there, ‘no I won’t let you.’ and ‘you promised,’ Were the main ones.

 

Marinette couldn’t wait any longer, she needed to know what was going on. She headed closer to the house but a hand reached out to grab her, she spun around to face the person.

 

“Marinette, what-“

 

Adrien, of course, it was Adrien, this was going to be a hard one to explain.

 

“He’s there right now Adrien we-“ she hoped he understood what she was trying to say.

 

He cut her off, “no, you are-“

 

That was a no, “Adrien we don’t have time right now.”

 

She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him across the street into a tree next to the mansion, he fought to stay on the rooftop they were on but her strength won out. Marinette slowly navigated her way out of the tree down to the ground below. Her footsteps were loud and sloppy where’s Adrien’s were silent as the night, she hated the fact that his was a natural ability and not one the suit gave him. She snuck closer to the windows of the mansion's office, she tried to look in but her short stature made that impossible.

 

“Marinette. We. Have. To. Leave.”

 

“We need to know what’s going on-“ she argued back but Adrien cut her off.

 

“I’m not letting you inside, nor am I lifting you up onto my shoulders.”

 

Marinette pulled her best kitten eyes, Adrien was always better at doing so but from the look in his eyes it had worked, she watched him roll his eyes fully aware that he would regret this but agreed and lifted her up onto his shoulders.

 

Marinette peered into the office, Adrien held her in place as she balanced carefully on his shoulders. The thick bulletproof glass muffled any sound from within, she couldn’t make any of the words out. She tried reading lips but with Gabriel’s back turned that wasn’t going to happen. Gabriel was throwing papers around the office as Natalie tried her best to collect them all, he turned and Marinette was able to recognise ‘Adrien’s’ name on his lips. She leant forward to try and press her ear to the glass, Adrien let out a grunt trying to compensate for the sudden weight shift. The words were muffled but they were just clear enough for her to understand.

 

“I’m not releasing my first line back in Paris without my son, Natalie!”

 

“Sir, I’ve tried to-“

 

“Natalie I don’t pay you to try, I pay you to get results.”

 

Of course, they were arguing about fashion and not the thing Marinette wanted to hear about. Marinette ducked her head when Gabriel turned to one of the many windows, even though he wouldn’t be able to hear them she covered her mouth. Her heart raced as seconds ticked into minutes and Gabriel finally moved away from the windows, she looked back in to see that the two had left the room. She sighed and patted Adrien’s hand signalling him to put her down. He opened her mouth to ask her something but she shook her head, the only way they were going to find out what as happening inside that house was to go inside and Adrien had already made himself clear that that was not an option.

 

Marinette allowed herself to be dragged back to their rooftop. Adrien tossed all the items they had left on the roof back into the bags they had. Marinette looked back at the house, she scanned the windows of the office, a white flash shined through them.

 

“Adrien slow down,” she told him, pointing over at the windows.

 

He ignored her and continued what he was doing all the while his ring and her earring beeped there warning cries, they had been transformed longer than Marinette thought.

 

She snatched up her binoculars from the roof, she scanned the windows but found nothing. She sighed in defeat.

 

She didn’t protest when Adrien picked her up, although it had been years she maneuvered herself so that she wasn’t thrown over his shoulder but instead piggybacking him. it was a move they had done often when she was unfortunately struck by an Akuma and couldn’t in some way shape or form fight anymore. She adjusted her grip so that it was tighter around him. Marinette closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder. She had pushed Adrien way too far today, her mind wallowed in regret as he ran across the rooftops towards their apartment, she needed to apologise immediately.

 

“Adrien…”

 

“What?” he replied bitterly.

 

“I’m sorry… I- I shouldn’t have-“

 

“No you shouldn’t have, but-“ he slowed to a stop, he took a deep breath, “But I’m glad you did, I- I’ve grown too comfortable ignoring… Ignoring that house, ignoring my father and everything he has done but-“ he sighed and adjusted the way he was carrying Marinette, she waited for him to continue, “But next time- Next time don’t- don’t just rush in like that,” he explained.

 

“Like what?”

 

“You rushed in without a plan just think it through next time and don’t- never mind.”

 

“What?”

 

“It-“

 

“Say it,” she pressed.

 

He sighed in defeat, “Don’t scare me like that.”

 

“Okay… I promise.”

 

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He shifted her weight again before starting to move again.

 

Marinette started to rack her head for other ways to apologise, just saying it wasn’t enough for her she needed to show it. A plan began to form in her head, Video games and a home cooked meal play a central role. She smiled to herself, a small sketch of a plan became a full-blown painting. The large apartment building they called home slowly came into view over the horizon, she shifted slightly against him the closer they got, she was growing uncomfortable. Adrien’s boots hitting the floor of their small balcony was a welcome sound, he released his grip on her and she awkwardly slid off his back. Her earrings beeped their final warning and then released her from the magical suit and stripped her of her powers. Tikki rushed over to the cookie jar before Adrien could pull the brown paper bag full of fresh sweets he had just bought out of the backpack.

 

Marinette moved towards the kitchen already setting her plan into motion. She dug through the vegetables pulling out the ones she wanted and dumped them into a bowel.

 

“Marinette?” Adrien asked, the suit of the black cat was still barely clinging to his form, “what are you doing?”

 

“Apologising.”

 

“Marinette, I told you-“

 

“I know but I still feel like I need to apologise to you.”

 

“Mari-“

 

“Please,” she begged, “just let me do this for you.”

 

“Please.”

 

“Okay,” he replied defeatedly, “What else are you planning because you always plan more than one thing to apologise even when you don’t need to.”

 

“Video games,” she replied.

 

“Anything else?” he queried.

 

“If we have time.”

 

Marinette walked over to the sink to wash her hands before pulling over the bowel to peel the vegetables within.

 

“Anything I can do?” Adrien asked.

 

She shook her head, “No, I’ve got this covered.”

 

“I just… feel odd letting you do all the work.”

 

She shrugged her shoulders, “I really I don’t mind.”

 

“Here,” Adrien said, “It’ll get done quicker if I help and that way I won’t feel out of place watching you do all the work,” he explained moving into the kitchen.

 

She moved aside for him so he could wash his hands. He took the peeler and potato from her taking over the chore. Marinette took the opportunity to begin preparing the oven trays before pulling out the leg of lamb.

 

 

Marinette pushed the oven trays containing the lamb leg and the freshly cut vegetables into the warm oven. She pulled the old egg timer and twisted it all the way around, the startup sound to her old console echoed through into the kitchen, she smiled to herself as she immediately knew what game he had chosen. Newer versions had been released and they had both mastered them all but something kept drawing them back to the 3rd edition, maybe it was their childhood and how important of a role it played in them. 

 

She removed the oven mitt from her hands placing them on the counter top, she slowly walked into the lounge room, their two Kwami’s sat on the coffee table, they were munching happily on their chosen foods. Marinette wandered over to the hamster cage, she opened it, her fingers brushed against Hamster Tikki’s fur, she chased the hamster around the cage for a little bit trying to pet the soft orange fur. She eventually gave up and placed the extra cut up carrots into the cage.

 

“So?” she asked sitting down next to him on the sofa, “Mecha III?”

 

“The one and only,” he replied, “Think you can beat me?”

 

She chuckled, “Adrien, you’re way too used to the newer controls,” she replied in a teasing tone.

 

“That's mean, Mari,” he pouted.

 

“Sorry Minou,” she picked up her custom controller, “You ready.”

 

“Are you ready?”

 

“Yep. Ready to win of course.”

 

“I’ll mourn your ego when you lose,” he teased.

 

The two went through the usual motions, selecting characters then eventually matching each other in every round. One might become easily bored with the constant struggle but the two relished in it. The constant struggle kept their minds sharp, it kept them aware, showed each other's weaknesses and where they needed to improve. Adrien stood up and cheered when his bot beat hers for the 3rd time in a row, she expertly hid her frustrations behind a smile, she stifled a yawn, sleeping on a rooftop wasn’t the best idea she had ever had. She glanced up at the clock on the wall to her right they had enough time for another round.

 

“One more round?” she asked.

 

Adrien nodded his head confidently, they were currently tied and he was on a winning streak there was no way he was going to say no. Adrien sat back down and started a new round, she paid it very little attention, her goal was elsewhere, slowly she lifted her legs up from the floor and up onto the sofa, Adrien didn’t notice, she moved her feet closer to his waist and then just as he was about to win she pushed her feet into his side and wiggled her toes, tickling him. He doubled over laughing and she quickly dealt as much damage as she possibly could while he was distracted. Marinette stopped her attack on him so he could see her prefer a devastating move on his bot crippling it.

 

“I can’t believe you just did that,” Adrien stated barely above a whisper, he shakily raised his fist from his side.

 

Marinette smirked and raised her fist to his, “Bein Joue…”

 

“Bien Joue,” he replied, “I still can’t believe you cheated…”

 

“Dinner is about to be done,” she replied with a shrug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On Tumblrヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


	30. Chapter Thirty - Us Against the World

Adrien looked down at the royal blue velvet box in his hands, he exhaled and opened it. The deep blue sapphire gemstone sparkled in the late afternoon spring sunlight. It was worth all the trouble he had gone through to retrieve it.

 

He still remembered the first time he saw it. He was with his mother, helping her get ready for a winter gala. They did what they always did when they were invited to such an event. She had been sitting in her chair in front of a grand mirror applying her makeup and he was at her jewellery box picking out what earrings and necklaces she would be wearing with the white dress. He hadn’t meant to open the bottom drawer, it was truly an accident but the box intrigued him so he opened it. The ring was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The sapphire was the largest he had seen at the time, if he had seen it when he was older he would have described it average but he was a child, the sapphire was surrounded by small octagonal diamonds, the band was made of pure silver, he shut the lid of the box. He still remembered running over to his mother with it clutched tightly in his grasp.

 

_“Momma! Momma!”_

 

_She turned around to face him, “What is it My Little Dove?”_

 

_“Wear this one,” he told her pushing the box into her hands._

 

_She opened it and chuckled, “Oh little one I can’t wear this one…”_

 

_“Why Momma?”_

 

_“Because this is my engagement ring, Adrien.”_

 

_He looked down at the floor trying to hide his tears, he didn’t really understand the meaning of her words he just thought he had done something wrong. She gave him a small smile and pulled him in for a reassuring hug, he pushed back against her wanting to be released from the tight embrace._

 

_“Adrien…” she said trying not to sound heartbroken, “This ring… your father…” she let out a small laugh as the memory flooded back, “I still remember everything about the day he gave it to me. He took me to a small fair just outside of Paris, this was before the camera’s followed us around. We went on so many rides and he won me that giant bear that's currently sitting in your room,” she explained, “and… And just before the fireworks we went up on the ferrous wheel, we… We got to the top and although your father was scared of  heights he still got down on one knee and the carriage rocked, he let out a small squeak,” a smile had spread across Adrien’s cheeks as she continued to tell him the story, “He…” she continued, “He barely above a whisper asked me to marry him, I of course said yes, partially because he was actually holding the ring, I was so afraid that he was going to drop it. We watched the fireworks from the top of the wheel and then we went home. And for the next few days I still couldn’t believe that I had actually said yes, this ring was my only reminder.”_

 

_He could still remember the tears of happiness that she was trying to fight back._

 

_She took a deep breath, “One day My Little Dove you will find someone- someone that’ll mean the world to you, they might-“ she sighed, “You’ll know it in your heart, you’ll feel it with every fibre of your being and when you find that person you will get down on one knee and present them with a ring much like this one and you’ll ask them to marry you.”_

 

_“Can I give them this ring?”_

 

_She closed her eyes and smiled, “Of course My Love.”_

 

Adrien pulled himself out of the happy memory, he could replay that memory over and over again and it still wouldn’t lose its effect. He reached up to his face and brushed aside the fresh set of tears that had fallen.

 

He was glad he had the ring again because he didn’t realise how much of an effect it had on him. 

 

When his father had reclaimed the house he thought he had lost any chances of ever having the ring, so after some angry and frustrated comments to Plagg he had cooled off and curled up next to Marinette in bed. In the morning he had awoken to Plagg bouncing off the walls, the Kwami had come up with a ridiculous plan to get the ring. Somehow Plagg talked him into it and he was leaping over the city towards the cream walled house, the window to his mother's old bedroom was left unlocked, he suspected that this was Plagg’s doing. 

 

He pushed the window open, the room was still covered in the drop sheets to keep the dust off of the furniture, he didn’t dare move any of them. He headed straight over to the wardrobe and to the safe concealed within. He struggled with trying to remember the code his mother had set to it, he typed in several different codes all of them were wrong, he could de-transform and get Plagg to open it but that would mean he would have to stick around for him to eat and regain his strength be for being able to retransform. He typed his own birthday into the keypad and it beeped back angrily at the wrong code, he sighed in frustration and released his transformation. 

 

Plagg looked around the room before realising what Adrien wanted him to do, the Kwami ran headfirst into the safe door leaving a trail of green sparkles behind as he phased through the heavy iron. It took a few seconds but Plagg popped open the door revealing the contents, there were several jewellery boxes within it but he was only looking for one, it was stashed at the back behind several other rings most of which he didn’t remember. He put all the boxes back only taking one he wanted, pocketing it, he went to close it when something caught his eyes, something that most definitely should not be in there, he reached for it and pulled it from the dark safe. He ran his fingers over the face of it, he had only seen drawings of it in books, the Peacock Miraculous had been lost with the Butterfly, that's what Master Fu had said, he didn’t think before he pocketed this one as well and closed the safe door, it was definitely a lot safer in his position that his fathers. 

 

He opened his mouth to call for his transformation but the sound of the door being opened stopped him. Time slowed and he scanned the room, he didn’t have enough time to close the wardrobe door, it was too risky for him to hide in it, he quickly ran and hid under the bed, he heard the door of the wardrobe close, Plagg must have closed it for him. He watched from the under the bed as the bedroom door opened, he instantly recognised his father's shoes, his hands instantly moved to his mouth to try and hide his breathing. His eyes followed them as he moved over to the wardrobe, he entered the code and opened the safe that he had just closed, he felt around looking for something and mumbled something angrily and slammed it shut before quickly headed back out of the room leaving the door open.

 

Adrien whispered his transformation phrase while under the bed using the drop sheets to hide the white flash. He kept his gaze on the door as he shimmered out from under the bed, he tiptoed over to the door and looked out. Bodyguards were all over the house, his eyes widened at the sight, his father was concerned and was taken quite a lot of precautions to ensure his own safety.

 

Adrien slowly backed away from the door and out the window his heart racing in fear. He ran home at top speed not slowing for anything, he took risks leaping across great distances that he hadn’t leapt in years, he hid from the view of the public by choosing paths that limited the view of the rooftops from below. He didn’t want reports of his little outing to reach Marinette yet or even worse if his father had learned that Chat Noir had been seen the morning that the Peacock Miraculous had gone missing may make stopping the older man harder than it would already be.

 

His heart didn’t cease its fast pace until his boots landed on the small balcony of his shared apartment with Marinette. Marinette was still asleep when he entered their bedroom, he placed a small kiss on her forehead and placed the Peacock Miraculous on her bedside table for her.

 

She had been surprised at the sight of it when she awoke, she tried asking him how he managed to get it but he brushed off any questions. She stopped trying to find out when her mother called, she needed help with running the bakery, Tom had, unfortunately, come down sick. Marinette had shot him a funny look when he started getting ready to leave with her but he had reasoned with her that he wanted to help and spend time with her, she shrugged her shoulders but allowed him to come with her.

 

He was hyper-aware of the engagement ring in his pocket all day, he helped Marinette kneed bread and bake cookies, she tried banishing him to the cash register but that arrangement didn’t stick when she kept calling him back to the ovens to grab something out for her. It was an interesting day, he had learned so much from a single day of work. He locked up the bakery for Marinette and headed up to the balcony to watch the setting sun, so he had pulled the ring out to stare at it and that's where he was now, waiting for Marinette to come up with the two cups of coffee. He closed the box and stuffed it into his pocket

 

Moving over to the balustrade he stared out across Paris, watching as the last hues of orange from the setting sun disappeared into the dark midnight sky. He sighed, he hoped he was doing the right thing by proposing here right now. He didn’t exactly know how he was going to ask, all he did know was that he couldn’t wait around forever trying to find the perfect moment because he was never going to find the perfect moment. He had put a small amount of effort into setting to the scene, hanging up extra fairy lights to make the area more romantic, he would have cooked but he hadn’t exactly planned it. He sighed in content, proposing was hard, he didn’t know how other people did it, so much thought went into it all.

 

“Hey…”

 

Her voice was music to his ears.

 

“Hey…” he replied.

 

“You okay?” she asked, moving up beside him.

 

He slowly nodded his head, “yep,” he replied popping the ‘p’, “I’m just in a mental black hole.”

 

“Sounds like fun, wanna talk about it?” she handed him the extra warm cup of coffee in her hands.

 

He gave her a small smile, “No not really.”

 

“You put up more?” she asked looking up at the extra fairy lights.

 

“We needed more light,” he replied.

 

“You wanted to plan here?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders, “yeah it’s a nice night and I thought we should experience it.”

 

“Okay…” she replied.

 

She pushed away from the balustrade and back to the wooden table that sat in the centre of the large balcony, Tikki suddenly appeared from the floor below with a rolled up map in her hands, she took it from her and unrolled it onto the table. He took a step over to the map, it was still dotted with the marks of Akuma’s past but some had been added to it in new colours to symbolise the recent Akuma attacks. A large red circle had been drawn around the majority of the little dots.

 

“According to Tikki and one of Master Fu’s many books owns, this is the radius of The Butterfly Miraculous’s Akumatizing powers.”

 

“And anything out of that means his position has changed, this should be fun,” he replied.

 

She nodded her head and pulled out a notebook, she started writing down address's that they needed to check out. The had scoured the house n the past looking for the room he used to hide away from the world when he Akumatized someone. They split up the list for each of them to search while an Akuma was raging through the city, it was mainly warehouses and houses. He scanned down the list of named addresses none of which he recognised.

 

“So what’s the plan?” she asked.

 

“We both know-“

 

“Adrien…”

 

“We both know,” he continued, “that he’s not going to stop. ever,” he quickly added.

 

“Adrien.”

 

“We lure him out into the open so that all of Paris is watching- so all of Paris sees him de-transform when we remove his Miraculous from him.”

 

“Adrien, are- are you-“

 

“I’m sure.”

 

“He’s your father,” she tried to argue.

 

“Mari, he stopped being that the moment he Akumatized Ivan.”

 

“I- I just want you to be sure.”

 

His eyes met hers, “I’m sure.”

 

“It’s just us against the world then?”

 

“Us against the world,” he repeated.

 

It was a simple plan to start with but it was a start. They still needed an actual plan and they need backup plans from B through to Z if anything had failed but just as Marinette had said it was them against the world.

 

“Video games?” he asked.

 

“Video games,” she agreed.

 

Maybe he’d find the time to propose during the constant struggle of trying to beat someone like Marinette in a PvP game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come Follow Me On Tumblrヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ


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